Clutch housing torque TC

[europa88]

Guys, does any one know the torque values for the housing to block? Especially the bolts that go thru the dowells from the block side into the aluminium housing. I've searched and found nothing also no specifics in the workshop manual 

[4129R]

I don't ever remember seeing torque values for those bolts, but be very careful not to over-tighten the UNC bolts that go into the aluminium casing, especially the two that hold the starter motor in place.

It is quite easy to strip the threads in the aluminium.

If you use decent split washers on the bolts, hand tightening them with a normal ring spanner should be sufficient.

[BDA]

I agree with 4129R. I would add that for the bolts going into cast iron, you can use the torque values for the size bolt listed at the end of the Technical Specifications (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/tcwork/tech/tctech.pdf).

As 4129R says, you should be very careful not to overtighten the bolts going into aluminum and some locking mechanism of some sort (lock washer, lock tab, lock wire, etc.) would be advised to ensure that the bolt doesn't come out.

Another suggestion would be to use a threaded insert such as a Heli Coil or similar to raise the torque required to strip the aluminum threads. Here is a video where different thread repair methods are tested. All of the metal thread inserts were stronger than the bolts they used to test (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jknMrFOGMOQ). The test does not describe the bolts that were used in the test so they were probably generic ungraded hardware store bolts. Still, it is impressive how good the inserts worked and while I wouldn't recommend using the torque specs in the Technical Specifications, a good firm hand tightening would be safe. Still, I would use some method to ensure the bolt doesn't come out.