[AdemKrlic]

Brilliant project! I look forward to keeping track of your progress... Best of luck!

 

[glibobbo21]

amazing... keep it up

 

[hilly]

So this weekend I threw on the exhaust manifolds to check that they cleared the chassis rails and would you belive it, they fit like they were designed to go it the Lotus engine bay, so that is one problem out of the way.

Now onto the sump, if I can't cut a chunk off of that then it is a show stopper
So I take the sump off the wrecked engine to see what is in the section that is hitting the frame.

The bit that is causing the problem is at the top in the picture.
Well there is nothing in there that can't be hacked off as the oil pump, pick-up and baffle are on the other side, so out comes the saw.

Now I will obviously have to weld a section back in to stop the oil peeing out, but for the time being I need to put it back on the wrecked engine to check that it will now fit and the project is still do-able.

Back on the engine with a section cut off the pan to match.

Put the gearbox back on then throw it back into the car.
Phew!!! it now fits, with plenty of clearance on both sides, result

Now it is time to get on with the new engine and gearbox mounts.
Centered up the engine and put it on wooden spacers to get it to the final height.
Knocked up some cardboard templates which I can then take measurements from and draw in CAD.

Engine passanger side (in the UK that is)

Engine drivers side

Gearbox passanger side

Gearbox drivers side

Now I would of liked to make the mounts out of alloy, I can't or don't have the equipment to weld that stuff so I would have to get someone else to make them.
If I do that, I have a nasty feeling they won't fit right when I get them back.

Which means I will have make them out of steel.
I'll cut out the required shapes and then tack them together in situ and then weld them properly off the car.
That way they will defo fit, just a bit heavier that I would like.

Off to the metal shop...........

 

[quattrofrog]

Excellent work... I love this project.

 

[psychorallyfreak]

Good Lord, that using cardboard to pre-fab mounts looks like a FANTASTIC idea! (no, I don't care how old the idea is, it's nice to see it in pictures)

Continue the good work!

 

[a4kquattro]

yep, actually cardboard is an excellent way to mock things up, even if just to get a rough idea of what shapes you want to use.

 

[WAUG0806]

8)

That motor really looks like it belongs back there!

 

[875ktq]

This is a very cool project, glad to see it back on track!

 

[3bAudios]

awsome project man

 

[mhb_1323]

that looks great.

 

[JRTurbo909]

keep up the good work...

 

[death 4kqt]

i just stumbled across this project.....very very cool!

 

[Scott by BOSTON]

Concur! What an excellent idea. It looks Soooo easy like that. Damn.

1.8T into 4000Q No Problem custom fab now!

-Scott by BOSTON

Good Lord, that using cardboard to pre-fab mounts looks like a FANTASTIC idea! (no, I don't care how old the idea is, it's nice to see it in pictures)

Continue the good work!

 

[hilly]

Right............ it's been nearly 2 weeks so time for an update.

Sent my old man to a metal yard and he came back with a lump of 6mm sheet steel 1 foot x 3 foot which should be plenty to knock up some mounts..

So in a few days with the help of a grinder, a drill and a welder (oh..... and my old man), I managed to turn this

into 2 engine mounts

and 2 gearbox mounts

These should do a better job of holding up the engine than the cardboard jobbies.
Then had to put the assembly back in to check it was still in the right position. Everything still fits a treat, here you can see the clearance for the exhaust manifolds past the chassis rails.

Plenty of room and that also goes for between the bulkhead and the front of the engine.

So now that the engine/transaxle has got mounts and is the correct position time to crack on with some of the other tricky stuff.

The alternator is never going to fit in it's original position which means it has got to move and space up the front is tight. Now this is where the offset sump does me a favor. The Lotus does not have air con or power steering so I can junk the pumps for those and put the alternator in their place. As the sump is offset this means that the large-ish alternator will fit in the small space available. So a few bits of metal tacked onto the left-hand engine mount and we now have an alternator.......

Now onto the next problem.
The belt tensioner is now on the wrong side. I spent many hours scratching my head with bits of string trying to figure out a way to route the belt so as the tensioner would work. I failed miserably........
Then while looking on eBay I found a brand new tensioner for an Audi TT which looked like I could possibly do something with and for only a tenner it was worth a go.

So another bit of metal welded to the left-hand engine mount resulted in a working tensioner, I love it when a plan comes together

Right..... next problem, the gear linkage.
The Lotus uses a rod and a cable to attach to the gearbox linkage to the gear lever. The old gearbox connection is on the right-hand side where as the 01X is on the left, also the rod action needs to be reversed to work the gearbox properly. I should be able to use of most of the old lotus assembly, just cut and re-weld it. So where am I going to put this translator, yeap...... you guessed it, on my friend the left-hand engine mount (damn this lump of metal is getting complicated). The mount is whipped off the engine and bolted to the chassis so I can modify the rod linkage (the red bit) and fit the translator (the black bit on the left hand of the picture).

That all seems to work, now to connect the translator to the gearbox.
Again I should be able to re-use the Lotus stuff. A new temporary translator is made up out of alloy as well as the lever for the 01X so I can fiddle with the lengths to get the lever throw correct. The bath tub shape is to get around the drive shafts.

Back on the car the adjusted rod assembly works a treat, so now I need to concentrate on the cross gate cable, but that will have to wait till next weekend...............

Hilly

 

[WAUG0806]

You are figuring it all out nicely... great progress! I'd love to see a better shot of that engine mount with the alternator and idler attached to it...

 

[hilly]

You are figuring it all out nicely... great progress! I'd love to see a better shot of that engine mount with the alternator and idler attached to it...

It is a bit dark here at the moment, but I'll try and take one tomorrow if I get home from work early enough.

Hilly

 

[newt]

Awesome progress!!
Really looking forward to seeing it all tucked in there and complete. Got any other shots of the engine bay as a whole with the motor nestled in there?

 

[hilly]

Awesome progress!!
Really looking forward to seeing it all tucked in there and complete. Got any other shots of the engine bay as a whole with the motor nestled in there?

Errrrrr ..... nope, but I'll take some next time I have it in there.

 

[maytagman]

all i can say is wow...
makes me want to take a trip to the UK to go for a ride when you are done

 

[3bAudios]

Looking great man, that car is looking like its going to be a LOT of fun!!!