1145 replies to this topic

[Graeme Lambert]

And now we come to everyone's favourite bit. The part of rebuilding a VX220 that is in no way scary or depressing. Nope, not worrying whatsoever... The subframe mounting points, and the inevitable corrosion that they suffer.

 

To be fair, I guess it's better to bite the bullet and tackle it, since it would appear that ALL VX220s are suffering from this and most people ( myself previously included ) have no idea to the extent of the issue.

 

So a quick scrape with a wire brush revealed this on the passenger side (by far the worst of the pair)

 

 

Using a wire brush attachment on the drill cleaned it up a little as seen here

 

 

 

But of course there is/was still some white corrosion in the pitted areas and if I was doing this I was doing it properly. So out came the pick and some manual labour. Boring, very boring, but I guess it was/is worth the effort.

 

 

 

In the last photo you can see how bad the pitting is on this car. Remember it's a late NA (03 plate) with circa 50k miles. I'm convinced that mileage or even dry-weather only running will make little to no difference to this problem, since it's not moisture related or anything....

 

To show you all just how bad it is/was (and maybe scare some into at least investigating the area when they have engine out etc) here's some more detailed shots of the lower area with the worst pitting

 

 

 

 

 

And it all cleaned up, ready for treatment and new subframe shims (ordered from DeRoure)

 

 

[Graeme Lambert]

The driver's side wasn't quite as bad. Still required lots of wire brushing and some manual 'picking' to get clean enough to be ready for treatment though

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Graeme Lambert]

Re-assembled the brake servo and installed back into the car

 

 

 

Back in the car

 

 

 

 

Connected up all the Fezz heater at the same time (and the loose brake lines and connections etc) as well as installing new battery into place also - just need to actually connect the latter. And of course the waterbottle, but that needs some time in the dishwasher first (when Naomi is out)

 

[JG]

Might be better to leave it untouched...

[Graeme Lambert]

Couple of things arrived from EliseShop for the car as well

 

New Gearknob

 

 

And some gearcables. Which predictably went walkies, thanks to Lee

 

 

To be fair as far as I know, the cables currently installed were fine (though remember I've never driven this car at all) but as part of the belt and braces approach I decided I should change them. Will keep the old set as good working spares I guess...

 

One of the more important updates is regarding seats. I had spoken to DTT and eventually bitten the bullet, and ordered a set of fully re-trimmed Lotus Motorsport seats from him. He would supply the shells, runners and of course the custom trim to ensure I got what I wanted. Not cheap, and I could have had a set of off-the shelf Lotus Motorsport seats for the same price, but I wanted to ensure they matched the rest of my plans for the car and of course the rest of the interior.

 

Deposit paid I thought all was well, until DTT phoned to say Lotus had in-explicably doubled the price of their bare shells. This meant that the 'trimmed' price, which was already a serious chunk of money, was no longer eye-watering but eye-ripping out expensive. Dave and I investigated a number of options, including many 'replica's that were out there, but none met his or my safety requirements (after my accident the last thing I wanted to scrimp on was seat safety) and we looked to be a bit stuck.

 

Eventually I decided the best option was to buy a set of Corbeau LE Pros, and have these re-trimmed. Of course Corbeau would only supply them fully trimmed, there was no way to get a set of shells. Again not exactly cheap way to do things, but we could just about make the maths work between us. I luckily came into possession of an S1 passenger seat rail/frame and conversion plates to make these fit the VX driver's adjustable subframe.

 

I was so close to ordering a pair when something popped up on eBay that caught my eye - supposedly a genuine 340R seat shell. I monitored the price, and tried to ascertain from the seller if it really was a genuine 340R seat with part numbers etc. It wasn't entirely clear if it really was, but in the end I paid a price I was happy with to take a punt. My plan being that this would allow me to order just one Corbeau Le Pro and use this (which AFAIK is identical to each other) as a the second seat for re-trimming, this cutting down on costs slightly.

 

Anyway, took the seat to DTT to have a conversation about it all...

 

 

And turns out it was/is a genuine Lotus 340R seat shell, with correct part numbers and everything.

 

 

To make matters even better, Dave has found a carbon specialist able to make a replica of the seat shell with all of the built-in safety that matters. So current plan is to buy two of these replicas, and I will probably sell the 340R seat shell on and hopefully re-coup my money spent on it.

 

Obviously at the same time I dropped off a car-load of other interior bits to DTT to have them re-trimmed for the car as well.

 

 

 

 

[Graeme Lambert]

Might be better to leave it untouched...

 

It's only going to get worse that way James.

 

There is an element of head-in-the-sand happiness to be found that way though I guess...

 

G

[Graeme Lambert]

Anyway, time to get the drill out...

 

So first up the chargecooler hole(s) in the passenger side sill

 

 

 

 

 

That of course was the easy bit - the running the hoses down the sill (and more accurately, and frustratingly, through the foam embedded in there) was pretty tough. Got there in the end though, my wrists did resemble those of a self-harmer by the end of it all

 

 

 

 

Got them both done in the end though.

[Sticky]

Good progress!

 

When's the engine going in?

[Graeme Lambert]

Good progress!   When's the engine going in?

When it's built - actually got a bit more done than the above, just need to update my photobucket and find time to post here...

[techieboy]

Worth filling the pitting with some JB MarineWeld or similar before reassembly?

[Rosssco]

 

Worth filling the pitting with some JB MarineWeld or similar before reassembly?

 

 

That level of surface corrosion isn't really going to affect the plate strength significantly IMO. Spread it with Duralac and fit a new shim to prevent further corrosion. Thats stuff goes pretty hard once set anyway..

[techieboy]

That level of surface corrosion isn't really going to affect the plate strength significantly IMO. Spread it with Duralac and fit a new shim to prevent further corrosion. Thats stuff goes pretty hard once set anyway..

 

More for just having a nice consistent surface for the Duralac and shim to mate to, rather than any structural concerns.

[Zoobeef]

I found the charge cooler hoses an easy bit. Probably because I got my whole arm and shoulder into the sill.

[Rosssco]

 

That level of surface corrosion isn't really going to affect the plate strength significantly IMO. Spread it with Duralac and fit a new shim to prevent further corrosion. Thats stuff goes pretty hard once set anyway..

 

More for just having a nice consistent surface for the Duralac and shim to mate to, rather than any structural concerns.

 

 

Agreed, but you'd just need to ensure that the surface was perfectly flat after the filler was applied and prior to hardening. Any uneven areas are undesirbale of course.

[Sticky]

 

Good progress!   When's the engine going in?

When it's built - actually got a bit more done than the above, just need to update my photobucket and find time to post here...

 

Bentley

[Harry Hornet]

I wouldnt trust your stuff to be long at MBR.....its like a sweet shop 

 

[Mangham54]

I wouldnt trust your stuff to be long at MBR.....its like a sweet shop 

 

 

 

[Graeme Lambert]

What are the random black lines on the photo Ian? you got a cracked screen/camera lens or something?

 

And yes, I will just be filling the subframe mount points with slapped on duralac, and using new shims and bolts from DeRoure for the job.

 

Anyway, while I was drilling the sill I decided to make some mods to the car's V for the grille. I actually never ran the V on my old one

 

 

But I did have one, just never got round to fitting it and I quite like them - though I prefer them without the roundel for the badge and think they look better if they have a contrast to the bodycolour.

 

 

So i set about modifying the original, and first up was to remove the badge area (though as you'll see I had some other ideas as well)

 

 

So I started to make my own version of the VXL Sprint grille, as seen on the VXR Sprint concept. Only thing is I don't like the almost continuous split tht runs down the middle of the whole thing so decided to break it up into modules instead - you can see some of the sketching ideas in the above pic to be fair

 

 

 

Lots and lots of drilling took place, and once the original holes had been drilled it was all hand-filed to smooth it out a bit

 

 

 

And then of course some more filling... and the required sanding

 

 

Still need to give it a proper rub down etc, but thought I'd give it a coat of primer and see what it looked like as it was. Finished product will be, well a lot more finished, and painted dark colour or black obviously

 

 

Oh and I used plastic biscuit tin lid to make the new sides where the badge once sat. Nothing but the best for Project once

 

 

 

[Graeme Lambert]

So sometimes it feels like this thing is taking one step forwards, then I'm taking two steps back. And the suspension is a case in point - and it has nothing to do with lending Hark my 1-inch ARB.

 

Basically when my Quantum single ways first arrived (after being ordered back at Christmas) I started to build them up and get them ready for installation on the car. They looked excellent and I was well chuffed, and I got as far as installing one of the fronts as can be seen here

 

 

And then I noticed it... Now it isn't a big problem and for many, and before I started this project I would have included myself in this group, it wouldn't have been a problem. But there was an odd one out - one of the fronts.

 

Three of the bodies had the Quantum logo engraved onto it, with the font picked out in white outline only, but one of them had a filled in logo. Not only that it was a sticker, there was no etching at all

 

 

 

Now I didn't mind which logo I had, in fact I had no problem with the fact one only had a sticker (though I wonder how well that would take to dirt and roadgrime, and the exusing powerwashing etc that would inevitably follow). But my OCD meant they had to match, either way - especially when you consider I'd blown a substantial amount of cash on these, the arb and bump steer kit in one hit at EP.

 

The first 'solution' I was offered was an extra sticker to 'stick over' the etching on one of the fronts so I'd have a pair to match. I guess in someways that was mildly acceptable. But I declined, and suggested I should have four matching dampers, whether thay all have etchings or stickers, but not a mixture of both.

 

Anyway, EP agreed to change them. The good news is they also changed them for the new design, which will (though I suspect this will be a moot point anyway) allow me to change them into two-way adjustable dampers with minimal effort and cost (hopefully).

 

Of course that meant there was some wait/delay for the new ones to be built, though considering just how much there was is to do on this car that didn't really matter.

 

Eventually, the new dampers were picked up and I was keen to get them built and fitted onto the car. And then when looking through the box I noticed there were no bearing packs or o-rings to be found. Confounded again, I did at least get the rear units built (first ones to come to hand)

 

One done

 

 

625 and 300 helpers on the rear

 

 

 

Both rears constructed

 

 

And then I went to build the fronts.

 

And discovered the black locking collar machining was incorrect and they wouldn't twist more than a couple of turns on the body - and no amount of grease etc ws going to help. Clearly a problem with the thread

 

Which meant they had to wait yet again, til EP and Quantum had sorted out the issue.

 

Turns out (though this took some time to ascertain) that the new design does away with the black locking collars anyway, as the new main collar uses a screw to secure it onto the body instead. Which means I didn't have to wait anyway

 

I did have to 'tweak' the damper brackets (which are larger than old Quantum brackets to accept the new wider body) to ensure they fitted the chassis correctly. And here was me thinkign the bolting on the new stuff was going to be the easy part of the build.

 

So I need to grab some new pics, but I managed to get both fronts fitted to the car earlier this week. Finally solid progress on the front suspension...

 

 

 

 

[Harry Hornet]

What are the random black lines on the photo Ian? you got a cracked screen/camera lens or something?

 

 

 

 

No nothing wrong with camera,  Matt had his little boy in the work shop and he wa sruuning around with a black felt tip