drtdvl Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 it's now coming back to bite me in the arsehole. Rimjob... maybe a bit of feltching? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 As suspected it's ripped a couple of teeth off the input shaft second gear: It's nicked a couple of teeth on the corresponding gear, only just a tiny, tiny touch but given the hassle involved it's better to just replace the bitch. Box is currently being stripped and fully inspected and will get all the gears crack-tested next week to ensure there's nothing else I'm missing. Visual analysis seemed to show fatigue beach-marks on the teeth indicating low-cycle fatigue, so it's probably a bunch of hard upshifts/downshifts in its life that's done it. What finished it off would have been the full-power corner exits on bumpy roads out towards Bethell's... but they would have gone anyway, most likely next track session so at least it didn't waste a trackday Oh well, onwards and upwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Well, October and November have been a pretty decent month for the car so far really. The gearbox wasn't able to be fixed in time for the CJC Jerkfest trackday in Taupo, so I was going to give it a miss. I did, however, manage to talk JC into heading down in his S260, so I decided to ride shotgun down with him. I'm glad I did because we had an AWESOME fun time at the track. My father brought MADD E up from Havelock and met us there too. I love spending time at the track with my father, he loves trackdays and even if not driving we always have a great time. I think it's time we both appreciate even more since his accident. I was fortunate enough to be able to take the Jag out for a session, which was a massive laugh as always! Here's a vid of me playing around with the old girl, although a slipping clutch meant I was being a bit more gentle than I could have been! Later in the day, I got to have a couple of session driving JC and Nixx's S260. Was the first time I'd driven their car in any kind of anger and it was really quite lovely. The extra weight really does blunt it a bit, but the extra torque makes it very playful when you want it to be and it's got enough power to be rather nippy in a straight line. Here's some video of my session with JC in the pax seat. A couple of laps from the end I turned the traction control off to have a bit of a play. I bought JC and Nixx dinner that night to pay for the rubber I'd used I got the gearbox together just before Labour weekend and the car was back running again. This was just in time for me to take it away touring for a week down to Hawke's Bay to visit the folks. The car racked up several hundred trouble-free miles, which was very nice to get under the belt. I was also pleasantly surprised with how nice the car is to tour in (apart from the noise, but I wear earplugs/phones, so that's negated). I'm looking forward to the Christmas Holidays already! Late in October, issue 192 of New Zealand Performance Car Magazine was released, which ran a feature on my car. This was done at the end of August at a trackday at Hampton Downs and I was quite happy with the write-up and photos. This weekend I managed to get the car into work and give it a polish and wax after its trip away. I also got JC and Nixx around (now sporting a second Lotus in their family as they could never agree who was going to drive and who was going to pax!) to help me bleed the brakes and clutch. I've not been happy with the shift on the Quaife box for a while, it's been notchy and getting 2nd gear was sometimes tricky. You know how when something gets gradually worse, you don't realise how bad it gets? Well that's what my clutch is like. We managed to get a bit of air out of the line and the gearshift is back to being like a rifle-bolt! So good! So, to celebrate, today we made the most of the fine weather and the three of us went on a bit of a blat, joined by Guy and his wife in his custom Type 79 themed 111R. I'd seen guy around a bit since he moved to Auckland a year ago, but had yet to meet him properly. The couple of hundred miles we did today were certainly a good way to meet up! It was quite cool how we managed a convoy of four; Elises and Exiges in both S1 and S2 variety! SEXIGE is now tucked up in bed awaiting the next sunny day. I've got a couple of niggles to chase down. The engine and the gearbox both have a weeping oil leak. Nothing major, just enough to piss me off a touch. I also want to head back up to GDS and see Glenn for a bit of a tweak on the tune as it's developed a bit of a hot idle problem where it takes a bit of heel-toe when coming to a stop to stop the engine dying. It's fine when it's idling, but coming down from revs it stalls if you're not paying attention. Other than that, it's plain sailing! Roll on summer and trackdays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 :wub: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylann Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 So it was you guys I saw heading through orewa at around midday, very cool sight seeing the convoy roll along at a casual pace. Was out in the mx5 today making use of the good weather aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Yeah, that was us On our way up to the Sawmill Cafe for lunch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyball1 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 dude ive been out of the loop! car is looking damn stunning!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
durty Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Started reading thinking "what has gone wrong this time?" Stoked that it is all going well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell'orto Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 The engine and the gearbox both have a weeping oil leak. Nothing major, just enough to piss me off a touch. It's English, isn't it meant to be a concern when it isn't weeping oil? Glad to see you finally having a good run with it!Good write up too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted December 3, 2012 Author Share Posted December 3, 2012 Last couple of weeks I've gotten some new Pagid RS14s in the front as the last ones were completely done for, and I'm now shopping for some better brake discs as the EBC Turbogrooves on it are nearing the end of their life. Some AP or Alcon rotors with alloy bells will find their way on there soon enough. Had an absolute blast in the car on Saturday. Went down to James and Nixx's last Friday night and we were up at sparrow's fart to drive down to Taupo to join in the NZHondas NIMM trackday. We met up with my flatmate and good friend Ant on the way down in his Nissan Skyline and we convoyed down. Picked up a few nasty stonechips on the way thanks to some rather shoddy roadworks, but these are to be worn as a badge of honour I guess, and when they bother me enough I'll give her a respray in the factory colour (Photo Credit to Ant) It was a great trackday with plenty of track time for everyone, so much so that I was rationing petrol by the end of it and sadly nursing a couple of niggles (more on that later). There were some cracking cars out there though, including Fraser Simpson in his newly completed Super GT-replica Honda NSX. The thing's still being dialled in and is due to receive a couple of turbos in the near future so it's fair to say it'll be quite the weapon when done! (Photo Credits to Wayne!) There was also an array of other cool Honda machinery out there including a brace of NSXs and some lovely JDM style Hondas. (Photo credits to Matt Carter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted December 3, 2012 Author Share Posted December 3, 2012 I spent much of the day playing taxi to people who wanted lifts, and generally having some fun overdriving the car and sliding about on a track with very little grip, as these vids of the first two sessions will attest! The first session with Steph riding shotgun: And the second with Hannah: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted December 3, 2012 Author Share Posted December 3, 2012 It was great fun sliding the car about like a mad bastard, but I managed to get some solo seat time in the third session and get some tidier, quicker laps in: Sadly, the day didn't go ENTIRELY smoothly. Towards the end of the first session, the speedo died completely. I was just coming up behind JC in the Elise and it just dropped immediately to zero and stayed there. I've had a loose connecton on the LHS wheelspeed sensor, but I thought I'd got to the bottom of that issue, so I'm hoping it's just the same thing or perhaps a dead sensor and not something amiss with the Stack. The second issue was that I've blown another alternator. Unlike last time where it just died, this time I noticed in the 3rd session that the usually rocksteady 13.9V while running was down to about 12.4V, jumping between 11.9V and 13V. I kept an eye on it for the day and it got no worse, but on the drive home it did get progressively worse with voltage dropping down to 10.7V or so on occasion. At each time I was able to wake the alternator up by changing down into 4th for a few seconds to bring the revs up over 4000RPM, at which point the alternator would go back on charge to about 12.6V.... so it at least got me home, just. I've got another alternator on the way, but given this is the second one I've cooked this year, I am going to have to adapt another one that can better handle the heat and high RPM that seem to be killing mine. I could also perhaps keep the stock one and under-drive it slightly, but really I should look for a better, lighter solution. The third issue is that there's a clonk coming from the rear suspension I think. Some slack when transitioning on and off the power, like something's loose or moving. It could be a loose engine or gearbox mount or perhaps a toe-link, but I only noticed it as I neared home so hopefully it's nothing major. Due to these niggles, the car probably won't see the track again until the new year. I want to take her away with me over the Christmas break down-country and want her in rude health by then, so my fingers are very much crossed that it's all minor stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted December 3, 2012 Author Share Posted December 3, 2012 I'll sign off with a few more photos of the day and a couple of vids. (Photo Credit to Andrew Whalley) (Photo Credit to Wayne Thompson) (Photo Credit to Andrew Whalley) (Photo credit to NZHondas member "colgateam") "Hello, Apex?...... Yes, I have a long-distance collect call here from George, will you accept the charges?" (Photo credit to Matt Carter) Managed a bit better next time around (Photo credit to NZHondas member "colgateam") Just to prove it wasn't all drifting and slidey stuff! (photo credit to Andrew Whalley) And finally, my favourite shot of the day, captured by Matt Carter: Which was also captured by Ant's on-board camera as I went past him: And how it looked from my angle: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Esprit Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Well it's been a little while but SEXIGE is still alive and kicking. I've not had much time (or cash) lately to do a whole lot with it. It's had a slight metallic rubbing noise from the left rear wheel intermittently and while I initially suspected a knackered wheel bearing, it doesn't seem to be. I've not had the space at my flat to work on the car and suss it out but hopefully I've the time and space to get to the bottom of it now. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be major, so possibly just a rubbing brake disc or something similar. I did, however, manage to get the car all shined up for the Club Lotus display at the Ellerslie Concours. A good number of hours went in to clean it up and give it a good going over top to bottom. It was looking pretty sharp on the day and Club Lotus took out the club display award, which was a nice end to the day. Since then, the car just sat under its cover at my flat as I got on with the other big thing in my life. This last couple of months I've been going through the purchase of my first house. I'd been looking at buying for a while but with the market being so crazy, I decided to just stay flatting for a while and saving money, but in January a place came on the market that suited me perfectly and was just about in my price range. I decided to take the plunge and on Thursday I started to move in. You know when you see a house and there's just something about it you love? You can't seem to put your finger on it but there's just something about it that just seems right. I got that feeling about this place. Here's a couple of photos of the Exige squeezed into its new garage for completely unrelated reasons. You can kinda tell by the previous owner's enthusiastically-laid rubber that it's just the right sort of house for a petrolhead! Of course now I've got a mortgage, the fun-budget is a little more restricted but I still plan on tinkering with the Exige, although I'll have to be a bit more measured with how hard I drive it on track as I can't afford to throw money at it as much as I have done in the past.... still, at least I've now FINALLY got the room to do all the work I desire on it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roman Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Hahahaha wow! Are you planning on building a 747 as your next project in the garage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ryanfels Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 You should probably put up some pictures of the rest of the house so you dont look some rich dude that just dropped $1million + on a house. :icon_smile: The house to garage ratio is pretty awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vintage Grumble Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Thats a damn swell garage Mr, much jelly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Esprit Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Haha Ryan, yeah the house is only a 2 beddy, so not exactly a millionaires mansion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flyingbrick Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Holy fuck that shed is epic!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fliboi Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I think the 'thing' that felt right about that house was probably the colossal garage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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