Author Topic: Thinking...  (Read 644 times)

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Offline Bryan Boyle

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Thinking...
« on: Thursday,March 16, 2023, 07:52:11 AM »
Raised the back of the beast up this morning to put new clips on the handbrake cable along the lower frame (they were hanging down...) and wondering...when I put the new transfer tubes in...having a bung welded/tig/mig on to the pipe from the pump forward with a plug/crush washer so that, in the future, if I have to drain the coolant, rather than disassemble the front end, just back out the plug, take off the pressure cap and have a basin on the floor ready to catch the flow. 

Anyone done/thought of this before?  Seems like a useful modification (and doesn't add much weight....lol).

Bryan Boyle
Morrisville PA
Commercial Pilot/CFII/FAA Safety Team
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Currently working on 3291R, ex 444R, 693R, 65/2163, 004R, 65/2678
http://www.lotuseuropa.us for mirror of lotus-europa.com manual site.

Offline jbcollier

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #1 on: Thursday,March 16, 2023, 12:06:22 PM »
It would work but if you jack up the rear to get at the bung you now have the rad downhill from your bung.

Offline Bryan Boyle

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #2 on: Thursday,March 16, 2023, 12:30:45 PM »
It would work but if you jack up the rear to get at the bung you now have the rad downhill from your bung.

agreed.  jack stand the back, remove plug, start flow, drop back of the car down. 

Or raise on stands front and rear with front a little higher..;) 

Just thinking out loud; you make a good point. 
Bryan Boyle
Morrisville PA
Commercial Pilot/CFII/FAA Safety Team
Amateur Extra Class Operator & FCC Volunteer Examiner
Currently working on 3291R, ex 444R, 693R, 65/2163, 004R, 65/2678
http://www.lotuseuropa.us for mirror of lotus-europa.com manual site.

Offline DreamsOfA47

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #3 on: Thursday,March 16, 2023, 12:56:04 PM »
That does sound like an excellent idea, Bryan! The bottom of my S1 is (for the near future still) enclosed but would it be possible, with an S2 configuration, to put that drain plug somewhere accessible without needing to jack the back of the car up? If not I'd still rather have a multi-step jacking procedure than the alternative!

Offline Bryan Boyle

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #4 on: Thursday,March 16, 2023, 01:09:09 PM »
That does sound like an excellent idea, Bryan! The bottom of my S1 is (for the near future still) enclosed but would it be possible, with an S2 configuration, to put that drain plug somewhere accessible without needing to jack the back of the car up? If not I'd still rather have a multi-step jacking procedure than the alternative!

I'd look at the bottom of the right hand side tube (which is the outflow from the pump).  That should be accessible by taking out the rear trunk and reaching in (the S2 is a bit easier to work with than the TC).

Just my thought.
Bryan Boyle
Morrisville PA
Commercial Pilot/CFII/FAA Safety Team
Amateur Extra Class Operator & FCC Volunteer Examiner
Currently working on 3291R, ex 444R, 693R, 65/2163, 004R, 65/2678
http://www.lotuseuropa.us for mirror of lotus-europa.com manual site.

Offline Clifton

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #5 on: Thursday,March 16, 2023, 05:01:07 PM »
I used some stainless MR2 plumbing for one of my tubes that had a drain on it. I don't think I would go through the trouble of adding one though.


Offline My S1

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #6 on: Monday,March 27, 2023, 04:45:19 PM »
It was a bit emotionally painful for my purist brain but I cut a drain hole in the front valance below the bottom radiator hose.  This allowed me to use a funnel then cut a small hole in the old hose.  It made for a very clean draining.  I filled the drain hole with the same type of rubber cap as used in the plenum chamber...available from R.D. Ent.

Offline GavinT

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #7 on: Monday,March 27, 2023, 05:53:29 PM »
My S2 has a drain hole roughly in the middle of the lower plenum aft of the spare wheel.
Is that not the same as other models?

Never thought about it before but did my drain hole came via the PO?

Offline My S1

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #8 on: Monday,March 27, 2023, 06:00:29 PM »
I have a '67 S1 and it had five 3/8" holes only. A row of three then two in the back crotches by the T.

Offline bjthomp

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #9 on: Tuesday,March 28, 2023, 07:25:44 AM »
This here's to My S1. It looks like your radiator has been rotated on its long dimension 180 deg. so that the otter switch is reading the temperature of the bottom half of the tank rather than the top. I forget which is the input and which is the output, but it is reversed from the factory arrangement as shown on drawings. Is this something you did, or is this the way it was when you bought the car? Just curious.

Offline My S1

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #10 on: Tuesday,March 28, 2023, 08:14:54 AM »
btjhomp,  that is very interesting.  I recently purchased 460202 from Germany.  I do not know if the radiator is original to the car.  The bleeder valve is on top of the radiator as it should be.  When I got the car one of the terminals was broken off of the thermostat so I replaced it and put the rubber protector on it.

Offline jbcollier

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Re: Thinking...
« Reply #11 on: Tuesday,March 28, 2023, 09:14:22 AM »
That is a TC rad.  They had a push in switch in the bottom of the rad (inlet).  The S1 and S2 had a screw-in rad fan switch (M22x1.5) in the top of the rad (outlet).