Her first laps

So 2241R finally moved under her own power! Of course, if I have a car that moves, I have to give it a little bit of gas! I took it very easy, but I was able to get the car to the driveway. Once she was in the driveway, I had to try to go a little further... So, I drive her around the house! Three times!

After that, I just let her rest in the driveway, sitting next to the other cars. For the first time in almost 30 years, she was just like any other car, waiting to run to the store, or do laps around a track.

She has a fuel leak somewhere around where the two tanks are plumber together. That will be the first thing that gets fixed. Next, the shifter has a lot of slop when it is in gear. You can move it almost the entire throw after it shouldn't move. That will probably be next. The brakes are really light, and they need to be replaced with something that has a dual master cylinder in order to pass state inspection. I think that may be more important than the shifter.

More work, but she runs!

The clutch is trickier than you would believe...

I really had thought that the throwout bearing extension would fix all of my problems. And then the Ford clutch exploded. It turns out that my pilot bearing was just a touch too long, and it was pushing against the clutch splines. So, a new clutch and pressure plate were ordered. Once the new clutch was here, I just wanted to be sure if it fit the transmission. It turns out that the Ford clutch never fit the tranny. I don't know how I managed to make that mistake, but I think I must have been trying it at a slight angle, causing it to bind, and give me the impression that it was lining up perfectly.

Now I am back to the original Lotus clutch. I am sure it won't be able to support the full power of the Zetec engine, but at this point, I don't have much choice.

A little grinding on the pilot bearing, and the clutch has enough clearance. I installed the new Exedy pressure plate, just for good measure.

I double checked everything, and then put the tranny back on the car. Double checking everything, I turned the key. Everything seems to be running alright, so I pushed in the clutch. Everything seems okay there too. Put the car into reverse gear, click. Slowly let the car out, and holy cow it moved!

That's right! 2241R moved under her own power!

It is almost ready...

I've gotten the brakes bled (I think). I've gotten the throttle cable figured out. I had a little issue with the clutch, but now I built the extension for the throwout bearing, and will test it soon.

I hope tomorrow is the day that it moves.

I need to post the drawing for the extension, so that others can build one as well.

The throttle cable is an interesting solution, and I need to take pictures of it for future reference.

It RUNS!

I filled the coolant system, topped off the oil, and decided it was time to start the beast. I turned the key a few times, with the engine trying to start. On the third or fourth time, it fires, catches, and runs. It runs like crazy. It holds at a good 1K RPMs, and seems to be running at about 14.7AFR. I gave the throttle a little goose, just to see what would happen, and it revs.

Everything seems to be working. I still have a ways to go, but it is getting close. REAL close.

Next, I think the seats need to go into the car, and throttle pedal needs figured out. After the brakes are bled. Otherwise, I'll be tempted to drive it.

Sooooo close.

A lot of things have been crossed off the list in the last couple of days.

Swirl pot is complete:

This involved welding shut the holes that were original to the spare pot I had. The only take away I had from this, was this: Use a good welder for any welding you need to do. Although it did not ruin the swirl pot, I could have easily had a major loss if something had gone slightly wrong with the crappy welder I was stuck using. Once I was done with the welds (which were poor at best) I 'spackled' over top of them with some epoxy. I'm told that this epoxy is specially designed for ultra deep water performance, so I am not too worried about a little pressure from the coolant system.

Radiator is reinstalled:

I am especially proud of this feat. When removing the radiator, I broke off both bolts that hold the bottom in place. I was afraid that by trying to weld them back into place, I would blow through the radiator walls, and need to purchase a new one... Not a purchase I would be looking forward to. I decided to use a type of epoxy made by Loc-Tite that is supposed to replace welding. Whether I did not prepare the metal correctly, or I didn't mix it correctly, it didn't hold. As I was putting the radiator back into place, the epoxy broke off clean from the radiator. So, I attempted something that I had never tried before. I brazed the bolts back on. For the first time brazing, they came out beautiful. A little crooked, but awesome.

Coolant system is nearly complete:

With the completion of the above two tasks, the only thing I needed to do is complete the plumbing. I cut the pipes that run the length of the car, just below the heater hose plumbing. I don't plan on driving the car when I would need heat, so this made everything much easier. Of course, since I had plugged the holes in the swirl pot, I needed to eliminate the heater from the plumbing system anyway. While I was running the hoses, I found I needed a sharper bend than the hose would allow. I started the search for some stainless bends. They came in at about $30. When I was staring at the car, I realized that I had a perfect fit for the application. When preparing the coolant system, I cut off a piece of pipe with a nice bend in it. The only problem was that it had a little return hose line inlet on it. No problem, a little brazing, and it was perfect!

The engine is re-wired:

I only need to check that all of the sensors are reading correctly when the car is running. I am a little concerned about the VR sensor, and the O2 sensor. Nothing a little more re-wiring won't cure.

Things are getting done

The brakes are complete. There is a few little things that need to be cleaned up, but they are done. The rear brakes are installed, I just need to put the e-brake cables back on the levers. I am holding off on doing this until I have the cables freed up. I also need to re-attach the cables to the frame, as the original clips to hold them in place don't anymore.

I have also installed the alternator, and alternator belt. I needed to go to a shorter belt than I originally had picked out. I ended up using a 46.3" belt. I am very happy with how everything lined up, but I haven't run the engine with everything in place yet... My belt tensioner ended up working very nicely.

I've spent a few hours re-wiring the engine as well. I have the new engine side harness complete, and only need to fabricate a bracket to hold the connectors in place. I have also gotten the car side harness ready, but it will take some routing, sleeving, and labeling in order to finish it.

The seats need to go back in the car, but one bolt on each seat is completely seized. I think the only way to fix it is to drill out the seized bolt, and retap the hole. Since the original bolt is ultra hardened, I don't know if that is going to work though.

Right now, I think the highest priority thing to do is get the engine wiring complete. Once this is done, I can start trouble shooting it (again). The coolant tubing is being bent by a friendly exhaust guy, so that will be next. Once this is done, I can start the car again. Then more trouble shooting.

So the current task list:

Finish engine wiring

Check fuel pump and O2 wiring

Weld and complete coolant system

-Tubing to and from swirl pot

-Heater hose removal

-Heater tubing removal or renovation

Check cooling system is working (at least pumping coolant)

Finish exhaust system

-Weld, smooth exhaust tips

-Finish rear mesh and frame

More brake work

The front brakes are in! They are not only in, but they are completely finished! I still need to complete the rear brake lines, and mount the e-brake cables, but it is getting very close to the point where I can say that the brakes have been completely replaced.

I also have been getting the wiring harness ready to put it back in the car. There is still a lot of cleaning up to do before I can say that is ready, but another task that is getting close to being done.