1983 Eclat Excel - BRS 500Y

[Mart1n95]

Successful task of removing all the studs on the heads, and got the exhaust manifold off after a bit of coercing. Cut off the bottom nuts, and used a rather nice Teng Tools chisel that split the remaning part of the nut off with ease, so for the remaining top nuts I just chiseled these off. Then lots of whacking with a hammer on wood to get the manifold to release. I wish I had chiseled off all the nuts on the manifold as when it came time to remove them, some had no thread left for putting on a nut, or double nutting. I found great success using the Milwaukee impact gun driving a nut on until the stud starts to rotate tighter, then whizz it off, this worked for all but two, where I had to use a die to thread the unthreaded part of the stud to get a nut on. One came off with the impact gun, the other I had to weld the nut on as it stripped the thread.

Intake studs were mostly okay to come out, a couple needed some convincing with a blowtorch

Got the head stripped down fully with all the valves, springs, spring seats etc removed and each in their own numbered box

Then into the ultrasonic bath for a nice clean so that I can get a good look at the valve seats for damage and cracking, and the good news is they all seem OK!
20251010_123119957 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20251010_142223339 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20251010_142324577 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20251010_142328182 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20251010_142334150 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20251010_142340390 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20251010_142343920 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Had a check of the exhaust valve guides, number 3 valve guide is a little on the looser side than I'd like, and 7&8 are both too tight which I didnt expect, so I might need to get the guides replaced which is a pain. I suppose I could ream the tighter ones out a bit maybe?

[AndrewWebber]

Had a check of the exhaust valve guides, number 3 valve guide is a little on the looser side than I'd like, and 7&8 are both too tight which I didn't expect, so I might need to get the guides replaced which is a pain. I suppose I could ream the tighter ones out a bit maybe?

Could it be that the valve stems in '7&8' are bent? as you say really strange the guide could be 'tight'

Andy

[Mart1n95]

Had a check of the exhaust valve guides, number 3 valve guide is a little on the looser side than I'd like, and 7&8 are both too tight which I didn't expect, so I might need to get the guides replaced which is a pain. I suppose I could ream the tighter ones out a bit maybe?

Could it be that the valve stems in '7&8' are bent? as you say really strange the guide could be 'tight'

Andy

I used the same valve for every test, valve 1 so the most forward valve on cylinder 1.easures it with the micrometer and I think it was about 7.13mm off the top of my head, but was the same the whole way along including where the retainer would be, never checked for straightness to be fair but it was fine in the rest of them!

But I did notice both 7&8 were tight when I removed the springs etc, had to tap them out a bit so it has to be the guide itself

[Mart1n95]

Hi all! Apologies for the lack of updates, I've been slacking

Will upload some photos later but a quick rundown of whats been happening

Head - Waited a month for a valve seat cutter pilot bit to arrive, ordered the wrong size so waited another month for the correct one to come. Tried cutting the seats and just wasn't happy with the result I was getting and verifying the seat width. So took the decision to send it of to the professionals. So sent the head off to ProRace Engineering, had them give me an opinion on the valve guides as well. They advised tonot only replace the exhaust guides, but also the intake guides as well as they were also quite worn. They supplied the guides at £10 each inc VAT, which is a great price, so all in for 3 angle seats, guide replacement and guides was about £600 including the return postage. Bit of a sickner being close to £1k in the head for the machine work, exhaust valves and gaskets etc but hopefully will all be worth it in the end

Got the cam carriers cleaned up in my ultrasonic bath, made a rookie mistake of not putting in the camshaft before pressing in the seals so have got another set of cam seals on the way
Major struggle getting the spirol pins out the block for the head alignment, obviously the snapped in half and fell to bits, spent a good hour getting the remains of them out with a die bit on the dremel and a small screwdriver

Got the headlights working fully, only one side worked and only when using the flash. Got the faulty side motor limit switch contacts cleaned up, then that side worked on flash and the other didnt!
Remembered seeing something on here about the headlight switch being at fault, so took the dash panel off and sure enough the contacts needed cleaned up. Got it back together and the headlights work as they should!

Got hung up on the gearstick gator, turns out the gator was inside out for some reason, took a good half an hour to figure out how the retaining ring worked and how it should sit but got there in the end

A few months ago I cracked off all the bolts on suspension and brakes to make sure I could get them off, ended up snapping the bleed nipple on the drivers side front brake caliper, even after heating it up to a million degrees with the MAP gas torch. Managed to get the nipple out by welding a nut onto it which I didnt expect to work, but that was a result! Rebuild kit for the front calipers on the way from Big Red with new pistons


Martin

[MetBlue]

Good positive progress there Martin.
Be on the road by summer.

[Mart1n95]

So heres some photos!

Gear stick gator fiasco, and how the ring is supposed to sit for anyone that might be struggling in the future
20260119_121619702 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260119_123347450 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260119_123444134 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Cam carriers stripped and cleaned
20260119_142105788 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260120_103028624 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Some scoring on the cam journals unfortunately, gave it a rub down with 400grit to get rid of the high spots
20260119_142123989 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260119_142118748 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Incredible welding skill pictured here to get the nipple off
20260122_125054630 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Obligatory photo with the lights up, new tyres fitted too
20251227_140452155 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

And the awful spirol pins that decided to give up life
20260120_131043818 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Also would like to add I now have the valve shim library! So a great thanks to the forum for that, will update once the heads on and the library is ready for the next person!

Martin

[bash]

Good progress there. It looks like a keeper when its back on the road.

Bash

[Pete Boole]

Yep - great work. Definitely worth getting the head done.

Pete

[Mart1n95]

Quick update, still waiting for the head to come back, thought it would be here by now

I was going to wait until the engine was back together and sorted before starting the suspension, but impatience has gotten the better of me

Got the drivers side front all stripped down, unsurprisingly there is no life left in any of the bushes and balljoints, they left the world of usefulness centuries ago it seems, but that was fully expected. Only really had an issue with the lower ball joint bolt, had to chisel it off and round, and didnt even bother attempting the shock top mount bolt, it got decapitated with the grinder

Will be ordering standard rubber bushes for the front, probably poly bush for the rears as the price difference isnt that much. I've still to remove the upper wishbone steel bush shell, enjoy some pics

20260219_142657101 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

20260219_142714566 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

I do have a question if someone has some advice! I'll be getting all the steel suspension components and hub powder coated, it seems the lower arm is aluminium? is that right? wasnt sure whether to get it powder coated as well or just blasted

[Alan_M]

Good progress.
Personally I don’t like powder coating - once it gets a chip water will creep under and ends up flaking off with rust developing under the powder coat.

I prefer painting in 2k epoxy, any damage tends to stay local and not creep under the paint.

[MetBlue]

seems the lower arm is aluminium? is

It's Galvanised on later cars. Expect it is in earlier also.
I'd just clean it up and leave it

[Mart1n95]

Got to the garage today for half the day, got the other side off and got all the bushes out the arms. Was an absolute pig of a job, but fiured out a better way after the first two

First attempt was was using hacksawing a bit then hammer and small chisel punches to break it off, took an absolute age, hit my hands many times, and extended my vocabulary of swear words
20260221_121534128 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

However, after a couple I realised that it was best to cut straight through it, just trying to minimise cutting the arm too much. Then they came out not too bad, taking maybe 5-10 mins each bush. MAP gas was also my best friend today
20260221_130952596 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260221_131046861 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

An incredible view of a suspensionless Excel, funnily enough the exact same as the photo of the other side, but heres a photo anyway
20260221_160805677 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

All the parts, on the floor, thinking on just reusing the shocks, there looks like lots of life left in them.....
20260221_160747432 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

seems the lower arm is aluminium? is

I was being a moron and didnt really check before I left, but realised today you're absolutely right, galvanised steel. I think I'll get it powdercoated anyway, at this stage just happy to drop all the bits off to a local guy, and get shiny parts back quick so I can get it reasonably put back together

It's Galvanised on later cars. Expect it is in earlier also.
I'd just clean it up and leave it

[MetBlue]

A glimpse of the future. Very satisfying when it all comes togerther.
Did mine 3 years ago now and the Powder coating on springs and callipers is holding up well

[Mart1n95]

Another busy couple days, rear end fully stripped and everything off to the powder coaters. I hadn't planned on doing the rear at this stage (same as the front.... ) but seeing as everything was getting powdercoated I figured I'd send the rear off too, as it was getting done eventually and I'm trying to be efficient with my time.

It seems the more I dive into the car the more I realise how bad it is Absolutely everything seems to need replacing, handbrake cables, wheel bearings seem notchy so might need replacing, handbrake drum shoes, basically everything thats a consumable or rubber needs doing which isnt ideal

Anyways, heres some photos of what is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby

I'm sure you've all seen one of these before, pistons were stuck in 3/4 of the calipers, MAP gas was used extensively and pipe grips to get the pistons out. Took an age and now my arms are sore. Shouls really just buy a fitting for a grease gun or something to press them out in the future
20260222_102108822 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Both sides stripped down
20260223_113056355 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260223_113038795 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

As you can see, I havent removed the rear shock and springs, for good reason. Because I couldnt muster the motivation to deal with this. Too tight to get a grinder in, I'll maybe try with my dremel tomorrow
20260223_113044759 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

All the rear suspension bushes were burnt out with the MAP gas on the center, and then the outer rubber came out without issue, easy peasy. Heres some of the parts ready for collection
20260223_113027704 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

Now, rear brake drum plate. Oh dear. So I have found out today that these are basically unobtanium, which is less than ideal most people would say. The outers of mine, as you can see, are rotten. So I took the executive decision to just grind off the spotwelds that join the lotus plate to the toyota center, and getting the centers powdercoated because they actually seem to be relatively solid. No photos of that because I was rushing as the powedercoater was due to be arriving to collect the bits
20260223_113218118 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

The rear hubs are now currently split apart to get the drum plates off, just whacked the axle with a hammer using the nut as a sacrifice. Unsure whether or not to just replace he wheel bearings as its all apart or not, not sure how much of a PITA it would be.

Hopefully my order of front suspension bits arrives in the next few days, and that everything's done from the powder coaters not long after

[Mart1n95]

Got some more done, got the rear hubs stripped out, rear bearings removed and punched out easy enough, Decided to do them in the end as the rear of the hubs were very dirty and grit got into the bearings after removal. However they felt quite notchy before removing from the car. I've found some replacement bearings based off the part numbers and they're half the price of the ones on the lotus specialist for KOYO bearings which is the same as whats currently fitted

Got the rear hubs put to the powdercoat guy as he also does aqua blasting

Enjoy some photos of the removing the bearings
20260224_104822842 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260224_104922998 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr
20260224_105309051 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr

I did punch out the races out of the hubs, they came out pretty easy

Then I threw all the bolts and bits into my vibratory polisher for tonight to get cleaned up
20260224_171644188 by Martin Gunn, on Flickr