1985 Lotus Excel Redblock FAST WEDGE 2.3 Turbo shatatatataaa

[crazyed]

Jul 26, 2021 8:43:14 GMT jonnyboyraver said:

Oct 6, 2020 16:50:18 GMT crazyed said:

For now the minor adjustments to the bulkhead should be enough. In the future I think I will go with a wasted spark. But for now it’s build it and get it in. Then fancy shiney bits can be added later.
The ECU I have I have installed a Boosted Billy chip. Chatted with him and he suggests that his set up with a TD04 19T, an IPD turbo cam (or something more aggressive), 3" exhaust from turbo all the way back, larger intercooler with 2.5" pipes and injectors no smaller than 440cc. Is running around 280bhp.
But with that I’d need to install an LSD, better brakes... I expect a clutch that can handle that..... the list goes on.

So other than a mild increase in boost for now bring it near the 170ish figure (that’s what the lotus excel SE version is roughly ) then I shall build from that.

Interesting build. Once upon a time (many years ago) I had an Excel with a Rover v8. The brake upgrade that I did (at the time) was 300zx 4 pot front calipers after milling down the front hubs and not running the discs inbound. I've got a parts list if you are interested?

I would be very interested indeed.
I already have twin pot 300zx calipers 30mm ones.
As for hoses it won’t matter too much as I’ll be completely re doing all the brake lines.
I’ll add some pictures shortly. Thanks

[crazyed]

So I am glad I waited for so long for this to be available.
its only something rather simple but I'm amazed at what a silly difference its made.

this is the original alternator bracket.



weighing in at 2.25 KG its got some weight on it. (that's 4.96 Lb in old fashion money)

This is the new one still a Volvo part.



This weighs in at 0.59kg (that's 1.3 Lb)


Thats a weight saving of 1.66kg (3.65 lb)

silly I know but that's a lot of weight that's saved from a simple swap job

And as the Tescos advert use to say. every little helps.

[crazyed]

Calm down don't worry.... I am not changing this thread to a twin engine VW T4.

Engine is on its transportation / Storage frame.

plan is to fit it back into the lotus and measure up for a pro-shaft to be built up.

............then hopefully ill start to plumb it all in then.

[crazyed]

Engine is in (again ) and for how Lon who knows.

[crazyed]

Only just have enough Turbo clearance......I don't think fibre glass burns?? Does it??

god job I only opted for a slightly bigger TD04 15g and nothing else I'm not sure it will fit without cutting turbo sized holes in the fibre glass.

[crazyed]

while I was at it I decided to pull the diff out to re seal it and paint it up.

I'm also thinking if I ever need to get the prop out it will be much easier pulling the diff off/out

than getting the whole Engine ? gearbox or the gearbox out in the future.









good news is I also found these Harmonic balance weights......... so in good tradition I will remove them ...(because weight saving bro)
and l will weigh them!



4.26KG in harmonic weights

[biturbo228]

Aug 1, 2021 17:36:20 GMT crazyed said:

Thats a weight saving of 1.66kg (3.65 lb)

silly I know but that's a lot of weight that's saved from a simple swap job

And as the Tescos advert use to say. every little helps.

Definitely fitting for a Lotus nice work!

One of my favourite Chapmanisms is 'never give a washer a free ride'. Shows the depth of the obsession

[crazyed]

I removed the top arms to clean them up.
and so I can add a threaded bar so I can adjust my rear camber.

[crazyed]

Wink......





Ohhhhh and I Did that .

[Woofwoof]

Bookmarked.

[jonnyboyraver]

Jul 26, 2021 10:48:46 GMT crazyed said:

I would be very interested indeed.
I already have twin pot 300zx calipers 30mm ones.
As for hoses it won’t matter too much as I’ll be completely re doing all the brake lines.
I’ll add some pictures shortly. Thanks

The below is an exert from the original post that I put up on lotusexcel.net.
With the benefit of hindsight, I am sure that a more suitable disc is available that'll eliminate the need for running washers on the callipers and having discs re-drilled.

I did a 4 pot conversion to the front of my Excel and had it under the standard front wheels. The easiest way to do it (I found) was as per below;



- Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo / Skyline R33 GTST Front Calipers (I bought a pair on ebay)

- Nissan 300zx front discs. These will need to be redrilled to the correct lug pattern (I fitted grooved)

- Nissan 240sx - 300zx conversion hoses. I bought a pair in America from a company that makes them as the UK suppliers wanted 3x the dosh!



The only concessions are that you will need to mount the disc on the face of the hub as opposed to inboard. This will necessitate machining a couple of mm from the outer of the hub. Finally, you will need slightly longer studs and 8mm spacers to sit the calipers off appropriately. The set up is really effective. With the V8 that I was running it'd stop very quickly. In order to sort the bias, there are alternative Toyota cylinders that'll correct it to suit.

[jonnyboyraver]

I've just found out that some Peugeot 406 discs with the centre machined slightly larger will work. At a guess, it'll be the v6 varient.

[biturbo228]

Any idea what the PCD of the standard discs are? I'm putting together a big brake disc catalogue with PCDs and all sorts of stuff for swapping discs.

[jonnyboyraver]

The Lotus Excel (not Eclat) runs 4 x 114.4 from memory. Peugeot 406 runs 4 x 108. I've never needed to look into it too much as I ran the 300zx discs, which have far more upgrade options. My local engineer did all the required work for me at the time. He charged £100 cash.

There must be a better suited disc, one day somebody will come up with a website that does the donkey work for you!

[biturbo228]

Well hopefully I should have a database that does it soon!

Part of the issue is that a fair few cars have discs bolted to the back of the hubs, which tend to have different PCDs to the wheels. For instance, my T2000 has a 4x114.3 PCD, but the bolt-on discs are 4x101.6. It's fairly simple to find the PCD of slip-on discs, but there's a lot more of the bolt-on type than I thought!

[village]

Aug 1, 2021 17:39:11 GMT crazyed said:

Calm down don't worry.... I am not changing this thread to a twin engine VW T4.

Unsubscribed.......

[crazyed]

Thank you for all the help on the disc conversion.

I will pull apart one side and measure up the disc on it .
I had no idea that the disc would be a diffrent PCD to the wheel.

News to me that.

I have heard of the 406 coupe V6 discs. I have not tried anything yet.

[biturbo228]

Aug 5, 2021 19:54:49 GMT crazyed said:

Thank you for all the help on the disc conversion.

I will pull apart one side and measure up the disc on it .
I had no idea that the disc would be a diffrent PCD to the wheel.

News to me that.

I have heard of the 406 coupe V6 discs. I have not tried anything yet.

406 coupe are 4x108, which might be the same as the disc PCD. It's tricky though as bolt-on discs tend to be stud-centric so need close fitting holes whereas most hubcentric discs have more clearance on the bolt holes so tend to need redrilling anyway (although if the stars align you could get the back of the hub machined to the right centrebore for the discs, or have a spacer fitted. You're in rarified company with 26mm height though!

Here's my draft brake disc catalogue if you want to have a look through. Most of the core information is there, it's stuff like inner face diameter and bolt hole size that's missing, as well as some PCDs. Still a work in progress!

[westbay]

The brake disc catalogue is really good! The one I'm interested in is missing though !!! Volvo V50 ...

[Darkspeed]

Aug 3, 2021 9:18:07 GMT crazyed said:

Only just have enough Turbo clearance......I don't think fibre glass burns?? Does it?

Glass-fibres are mostly fireproof they melt but do not burn - polyester resin on the other hand.....