Now the photo upload's working again I can put some pics up of my latest project.
It's a tatty old 1978 Lotus Eclat that came with no engine / box off an old mate.
Chassis seems good and I'm planning to fit a Lexus 4.3 vvti V8 mated to a BMW Getrag 260 box (from an E30 with overdrive 5th)
As I found it-
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Body lifted off chassis-
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Trial fit of engine-
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The V8-
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[Edited on 7/6/19 by Nickp]
Nice find! Please keep us up to date with progress!
I have got some lotus factory manuals if you get stuck with anything.
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Dave
Another car I should of bought when they where worth feck all. Still being a lotus I would probaly struggle to get in/out.
It would be great if you can do a bit of a project diary / blog. 
That will be awesome!
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Originally posted by obfripper
I have got some lotus factory manuals if you get stuck with anything.
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Dave
quote:
Originally posted by big_wasa
Another car I should of bought when they where worth feck all. Still being a lotus I would probaly struggle to get in/out.
It would be great if you can do a bit of a project diary / blog.
Car was originally metallic brown, very 70's!! Looking at painting it Lotus Lemon Yellow
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Hmm that’s giving me ideas, maybe I should leave the v6 in the back of the garage.
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Originally posted by big_wasa
Hmm that’s giving me ideas, maybe I should leave the v6 in the back of the garage.
I got the engine and a Phoenix loom at a very good price off a
mate as his project (MX5) ended up been a non starter.
I'm quite a long way from you in Norfolk, but the guys who did the bodywork and paint on my stylus both used to work for Lotus and have done a
number of bodywork restos, you can see a Europa in the background in this photo
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If you want any contact details let me know.
Finally got going again on the Lotus. Haynes has been shipped off to a mates for the winter to give me some space to get the chassis out from under
the body. Engine / gearbox mounts now made and all sat in the chassis now. Tried dropping the body over the whole lot but that wasn't happening
due to the width of the heads. So, plan B, fit the body back on and drop the engine/box in from the top. Minor trimming needed to the engine bay but
it's all sat in with clearance around it and the bonnet shuts too!! Now looking for a Jag diff to see if I can make that fit too
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the weak point n that chassis is the rear crossmember....as lotus was so clever putting some spongy insulation between x-member and body.
consecutivly this aera always remained wet and the x-member rusted from top.
lotus did not recommend (they even forbid) to repair-weld the chassis....the chassis needed to replaced whatever damage it had.
another weak point where the rubber-bushes of the ARB where its connected to the TCA on front suspension. those rubbers had most influence on the
ride and steering precission of those cars.
rear suspension swingarms are also prone to rust and their chassis-side pivot-point prone to seize and tear-off
as per typical lotus design the rear drvie-shafts where used as a part of the suspension, means high stress on the u-jpoints.
quote:
Originally posted by alfas
the weak point n that chassis is the rear crossmember....as lotus was so clever putting some spongy insulation between x-member and body.
consecutivly this aera always remained wet and the x-member rusted from top.
lotus did not recommend (they even forbid) to repair-weld the chassis....the chassis needed to replaced whatever damage it had.
another weak point where the rubber-bushes of the ARB where its connected to the TCA on front suspension. those rubbers had most influence on the ride and steering precission of those cars.
rear suspension swingarms are also prone to rust and their chassis-side pivot-point prone to seize and tear-off
as per typical lotus design the rear drvie-shafts where used as a part of the suspension, means high stress on the u-jpoints.
I've picked up a 2.87:1 XJS 'Powerlok' diff to put in and all the associated arms / shafts / hubs etc. The whole lot is only 1/2"
wider than the original Lotus stuff. With such a tall diff it means I can go back to an E36 gearbox with it's 1:1 5th gear and still have a
theoretical top speed of 170+mph The E30 gearbox with it's overdriven 5th was going to give me 210+mph 
There's been some steady progress on getting the Jag diff mounted into the chassis this week. I've made a top plate from 3mm steel and
managed to bolt the diff into position to check prop alignment etc. I've cut away just enough chassis to get it into position but will need to
remove more to allow room for the inboard discs and calipers. Before I do this I intend to strengthen the chassis by welding in 1" box section
along the length of the rear section then add several brace pieces to triangulate it all. Once happy with the top I'll flip the chassis to make a
frame to tie the original mounting points into the base of the Jag diff. Unfortunately there wasn't really a way to rubber / poly mount the diff
so the whole thing will be solidly mounted, as it is in my Haynes and some TVRs apparently. Hopefully this won't be an issue as the body is
rubber mounted and therfore isolated from the chassis to a certain extent.
Can't seem to upload pics again
I'm sure it'll be fine, i doubt you'll be using the car for long regular daily commutes so maybe a bit of noise/vibration won't
matter!
Funnily enough i had the same conversation with a copper whilst in a filling station a few weeks ago in the Metro
Ian
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
I'm sure it'll be fine, i doubt you'll be using the car for long regular daily commutes so maybe a bit of noise/vibration won't matter!
Funnily enough i had the same conversation with a copper whilst in a filling station a few weeks ago in the Metro
Ian
quote:
Originally posted by Nickp
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
I'm sure it'll be fine, i doubt you'll be using the car for long regular daily commutes so maybe a bit of noise/vibration won't matter!
Funnily enough i had the same conversation with a copper whilst in a filling station a few weeks ago in the Metro
Ian
It deffo won't be my 'daily' mate but I do intend to do long Euro trips in it
Been a diff from a luxury barge hopefully it'll be quieter and smoother than most
In fact Oddie, you should sign up for the next Euro road trip with me and Dave. That'd be some trio, a V8 Eclat, V8 Kitten and your V6 6R4
[Edited on 11/12/19 by Nickp]
quote:
Originally posted by Nickp
quote:
Originally posted by Nickp
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
I'm sure it'll be fine, i doubt you'll be using the car for long regular daily commutes so maybe a bit of noise/vibration won't matter!
Funnily enough i had the same conversation with a copper whilst in a filling station a few weeks ago in the Metro
Ian
It deffo won't be my 'daily' mate but I do intend to do long Euro trips in it
Been a diff from a luxury barge hopefully it'll be quieter and smoother than most
In fact Oddie, you should sign up for the next Euro road trip with me and Dave. That'd be some trio, a V8 Eclat, V8 Kitten and your V6 6R4
[Edited on 11/12/19 by Nickp]
Just don't tell Greta, she'll have a hissy fit
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
quote:
Originally posted by Nickp
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Originally posted by Nickp
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
I'm sure it'll be fine, i doubt you'll be using the car for long regular daily commutes so maybe a bit of noise/vibration won't matter!
Funnily enough i had the same conversation with a copper whilst in a filling station a few weeks ago in the Metro
Ian
It deffo won't be my 'daily' mate but I do intend to do long Euro trips in it
Been a diff from a luxury barge hopefully it'll be quieter and smoother than most
In fact Oddie, you should sign up for the next Euro road trip with me and Dave. That'd be some trio, a V8 Eclat, V8 Kitten and your V6 6R4
[Edited on 11/12/19 by Nickp]
Just don't tell Greta, she'll have a hissy fit
You'll have to let me know when your planning on your next euro trip, if i'm not away/busy i'd be up for it
Pretty much anyone on this entire forum aren't likely to be getting a Christmas card from Greta...
Ian
Previous owner of my Lotus has just popped up on another forum and is sending me the cars history, MOTs and photos. He did a body offf resto which
explains why the chassis survived long enough for me to attack it with a grinder
https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/102742-loxus-eclat-v8/?&page=3#comments
I had similar for the standard Metro when i bought it, they gave me a folder of every invoice, service and mot from when they bought the car from
new!. Made for interesting reading.
Ian
Bit more work on the mounting of the Jag diff. Much more challenging than getting the engine / box mounted!! Bracket bolts to where the original diff
mounting points were on the chassis.
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Bit more fabrication work done on the diff cradle.....
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And got it sat on the Jag axle and test fitted a wheel for the first time....
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[Edited on 20/1/20 by Nickp]
Things are progressing steadily on the old Eclat and I seem to have a bit more time at the moment due to CV19
A major change is that I've had to give up on fitting the inboard disc brakes on the first IRS I bought. I got the discs mounted OK but it was
physically impossible to mount the calipers especially the handbrake ones due to them clashing with the chassis. I was looking at various aftermarket
caliper solutions but space was limited and cost was high. After some googling, which I wish I'd done earlier, I found out that the later XJ6
(X300 94-97) used a similar diff setup but had outboard discs instead. So mixing and matching the parts would give me a near ideal soution for my car
So, the chassis has now been blasted, the rear section rebuilt to go around the diff and the front crossmember braced / strengthened internally
before boxing it back in.
I'm currently working on a handbrake soultion which seems to be going to plan. It consists of welding the original Jag hub cable ends onto ALKO
connectors which slot onto a pair of 770mm trailer handbrake cables. These connect to a balance bar that the original Lotus cable will pull on once
shortened. Fingers crossed.
I've also sourced a pair of exhaust manifolds from a 'Soarer'. These are much tighter to the cylinder heads and I've tested fitted
them fine into the chassis / body. They still need to point forward and I've managed to loop them back around the engine mounts so I can build
the rest of the system from that point.
Engine / box and diff in place to measure up for a custom prop-
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Modified Soarer manifold-
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Handbrake cable bracket-
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Looks like it's a nice snug fit with the exhaust manifold looping round the engine mount!
Ian
quote:
Originally posted by Oddified
Looks like it's a nice snug fit with the exhaust manifold looping round the engine mount!
Ian