The Zetec 'Ropacane

[jbcollier]

Don't use chassis grease in a steering rack.  Use either gear oil or semi-fluid grease -- I used gear oil many, many times.  Chassis grease can restrict the free flow of air back and forth as the respective bellows expand and contract.  I just clean around the boot, pry it off and pour some in.

All the lower arms give the same suspension geometry.  The later TC/S arms provide more clearance around the spring and shock.  Run them through their travel without the springs on to make sure everything clears.

[Chuck Nukem]

Don't use chassis grease in a steering rack.  Use either gear oil or semi-fluid grease -- I used gear oil many, many times.  Chassis grease can restrict the free flow of air back and forth as the respective bellows expand and contract.  I just clean around the boot, pry it off and pour some in.

All the lower arms give the same suspension geometry.  The later TC/S arms provide more clearance around the spring and shock.  Run them through their travel without the springs on to make sure everything clears.

Perfect, Thank you JB! I just got some 100 weight gear oil for my rotary table. Was wondering what I would ever do with the rest of it

[BDA]

I got a steering rack from a donor TCS and overall it feels very good. The inner tie rods don't feel loose per se, but they certainly aren't as snug as the outers. Is it common to have to service these? I seem to recall reading about injecting grease inside the boot with a syringe.

I also pinched the anti roll bar off the donor car, but the bushings are toast and it has been modified a little bit. Seems like it is easy enough to change the roll bar even with the body on, but I might be procrastinating with something that will come to haunt me later... I have read the stories that changing these bushings requires the help of the devil.

As soon as I get my hubs greased up I should be rolling on the front end.

I'm not sure what you mean when you mention inner and outer tie rods, but I think you are at least talking about the tie rod joint at the end of the rack and inside the boot. It should require about 8 lbs force to move the tie rod at the end. Less is not better. This is adjustable with shims. The S2 manual goes into good detail about how to set that up (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/h/s2h.pdf). You might need to make some adjustments.

My practice is different from JB's. I use moly grease on my rack and pinion. I know that sliding friction is what moly is best for and that there is rolling friction between the rack and pinion, but I've had no problems (nor would I expect to have any if I used JB's method). The manual says on reassembly to the rack to pack the bellows with 1/2 oz of Shell Retinax 'A' or similar. That is apparently a multipurpose grease as might be used on wheel bearings. I don't assert my practice is better but only that it is simple and seems to work well for me. I would also say that back in the '70s I had heard of bellows on racks on a race car that were connected by a hose - probably to solve the problem JB describes wrt air flow.

[Chuck Nukem]

BDA thanks for the advice about the shims. I found that Ray stocks the shims for the inner ball joints so those are on order in addition to many other goodies.

Not much distinct visual progress yet, but I have been practicing my gold leaf pin striping. There is definitely a window on the dry time of the size that you want to be in. My best results so far have been when the glue just squeaks as you rub it. Almost all the tack feeling is gone from it, but it still holds the gold just fine. The stripes are blinding in the sunlight!! I can't wait to have them on the car.

The boot and bonnet fitting continues. I think it is just about finished. I may make a mold of the boot (even though I said I wouldn't) because I have had to add quite a lot of filler to get the lines and gaps correct... added lightness through a shedding of sorts....

[BDA]

Nice work on the stripes, Chuck!

I'd advise getting a spring scale to test the resistance of your tie rods. A trigger gauge works well too if you don't have a spring scale.

[Chuck Nukem]

Well I was going to wait and update when I had color on it...alas almost there....

Lessons from the primer...Don't be afraid to put 4 or 5 coats on at a time....The can says 2-3 but that is crap advice. Maybe I am bad at using filler, but I found that really hammering this stuff out saves on the prep of sanding and recoating a million times.... I have put a few gallons of primer on this thing and sanded much of it back off at this point...

Special thanks to Gavin for recommending the VW beetle boot release mechanism! With a little modification to the body it fits very well. I am finally happy with the seal of the boot and the gaps. I still need to come up with a clever way to latch the bonnet in the center, but from the inside. This panel crowns a bit when not under tension from the latch.

The whole car is sanded to 400. The plan is to flip it, seal the bottom with unreduced 2 part epoxy from SPI and wait a day. Once the car is right side up and everything is dusted down one last time I will shoot a 20%-30% reduced coat of epoxy as a sealer followed by 2 coats of base about 6 hours later. The next day I will shoot 3 coats of clear. Then its time to push the car in to the sun for a few days and sand with 800 in preparation for gold leaf and reclearing. I have been advised that one should shoot adhesion promoter on top of the gold leaf before clear coating.

Before any of that can happen I need to finish my mold of the rear decklid as it has become much heavier with all the filler I had to add to straighten it relative to the body.

two more weeks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJhHjACjJjA

[GavinT]

That looks excellent, Chuck.

If I recall, the VW beetle mechanism was used on the front bonnet (hood?) rear corners.
Just to be clear, I can't recall who did the mod but it wasn't my idea.

But I'm pleased you've been the guinea pig for the rear engine cover.
I figured it'd be worthwhile in terms of better locating the engine cover laterally which should limit it moving around and chafing the side channels.
Well done.

[Chuck Nukem]

Yes thank you!!

The lid is under a very slight tension when it is latched which I feel helps to hold it in place too. I am using mixing sticks as spacers for now to locate the height, but I plan to use little rubber adhesive pads in the rain channel. I am also planning the gas strut hood prop so that should help locate it laterally as well.

I would use them in the front like the picture shows, but unfortunately my hood crowns a bit in the center by the windshield. If I locate it at the corners it would probably still bow up. The latch itself weighs about 120g so it is not too heavy and the benefit of having fewer keys is nice. I could probably also integrate a solenoid release in to the boot for remote unlocking.

I also pulled this lad out of the attic the other day...What horrors await inside...

[GavinT]

To limit the chafing, a friend of mine made aluminium pads about 20mm diameter x 2mm thick which he's glued to the engine cover vertical sides sorta near the peak of the lid at the rear.

Opposite the discs, above the rain channel he glued a piece of clear plastic for it to rub against.
Don't know what the plastic is but it looks similar to the stuff used to protect from stone chips on the rear wheel openings of Porsche's etc.
The intention is to provide a deliberate 'high spot' where the chafing takes place and thus limit the common chafing over an extended length in the rain channel. Seems to work.

How much does the front hood crown?
There's a bulletin whereby it's suggested to install a vertical strip of ally inside the rear face of the hood. The idea was to limit lifting of the corners at speed. Perhaps something like that could be ingeniously installed to deliberately 'dissuade' the crowning . . he said thinking out loud.

Bonnet stays.
I'm planning on going old school. While the gas struts are nice, I'm always concerned about the stresses induced when closing the relatively weak lid. I might have that wrong.

[Chuck Nukem]

To limit the chafing, a friend of mine made aluminium pads about 20mm diameter x 2mm thick which he's glued to the engine cover vertical sides sorta near the peak of the lid at the rear.

Opposite the discs, above the rain channel he glued a piece of clear plastic for it to rub against.
Don't know what the plastic is but it looks similar to the stuff used to protect from stone chips on the rear wheel openings of Porsche's etc.
The intention is to provide a deliberate 'high spot' where the chafing takes place and thus limit the common chafing over an extended length in the rain channel. Seems to work.

How much does the front hood crown?

There's a bulletin whereby it's suggested to install a vertical strip of ally inside the rear face of the hood. The idea was to limit lifting of the corners at speed. Perhaps something like that could be ingeniously installed to deliberately 'dissuade' the crowning . . he said thinking out loud.

Bonnet stays.
I'm planning on going old school. While the gas struts are nice, I'm always concerned about the stresses induced when closing the relatively weak lid. I might have that wrong.

About 6mm of crown. You make a great point about that strip as the hood I am using did not have one. Perhaps I should experiment with that first before going further.

That is a good point about the struts. I did not really think about the closing stress on the lid. The tutorial I found recommended using 20 lb struts.

[TCS4605R]

Chuck - I installed gas struts on my engine cover after I did a fit and finish on the cover - the cover fit perfectly before I fit the gas struts but terrible after.  The forces required to close the cover with the gas struts caused the cover to distort.  So, I’m not using gas struts.

Tom
74 TCS - 4605R

[BDA]

I installed gas struts on my engine cover and they were one of the best mods (and I have A LOT of mods) I have. I don't weld so I got a kit from Richard at Banks. I changed the way they mount. If you're interested, here's the thread on how I did it and the things I missed: http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=2486.msg23618#msg23618

[Chuck Nukem]

Well who could be surprised that I have found more ways to delay myself in painting my car?

With the decklid fitting so nicely it has become problematically heavy from the body filler...This set me on a crash course with molding to make a lightweight new panel... I am also making a mold of the chin spoiler because I am a knave and I want a carbon fiber one.

I have finished the top side of the deck lid. I am planning to make this a two piece mold unless any of the wise mold makers out there have other opinions.   

[BDA]

Very ambitious, Chuck! Are you going to finish the vertical edges with a rounded bottom like the original? I aspire to be a dumb mold maker but that seems like it would be difficult. On the other hand, I think it would add rigidity and it may help seal the engine compartment from rain.

It looks good so far. Good luck!

[Chuck Nukem]

Very ambitious, Chuck! Are you going to finish the vertical edges with a rounded bottom like the original? I aspire to be a dumb mold maker but that seems like it would be difficult. On the other hand, I think it would add rigidity and it may help seal the engine compartment from rain.

It looks good so far. Good luck!

Thanks BDA.

Yes these will pose a problem... My limited imagination on this thinks that for simplicity sake lotus made this in a two piece mold, but the probably prewet the fiberglass and rolled it up inside that channel with a special roller. Mine had the voids to prove that it was probably done blind like that.

I am not sure if trying to mold this bottom piece in one shot will pose a huge lay up issue or not. I am planning to do this part via infusion so it will be bagged and the resin will be dispersed through vacuum. You can prelay the dry fabric with the help of adhesive spray to tack it in to place.

I could also modify my plan and make a 3 piece mold with the last flange to be added once the main fabric is laid up.

Not sure how the flanges will affect final vacuum and if I will need to seal them from the outside to prevent leaks. Could be the case. I'm in uncharted waters! (for myself anyway...I'm sure Bill the Australian taxidermy mold wizard would make short work of this thing)