This is really encouraging, can’t wait to hear how the brakes feel on the road and if the ‘tiny bit of ‘mehh’ at the top of the travel’ has been removed. 
Well progress on the car fell very flat, very quickly. Can’t believe it’s been over a month since last update!
Still, it was all for the greater good.
I’d had a dialogue open with the builders who did my kitchen knockthrough a few years ago about doing a bit of a garage project. Talks picked up again this Winter about working me in between their other big jobs - and suddenly, we got a slot!
This meant the car had to leave, sharpish. I had about a week to get the car in a fit state to go hide in the trailer and get all delicates/bodywork out of the garage too. It was a rushed few evenings after work but I lobbed the clams back on and got it into the trailer. My first and only experience to date of driving the car on the new brakes was summarised by “wow, they do NOTHING at low pedal force”.
I think the biggest thing you miss when dropping a booster is that real low effort/low load end of the scale when pottering around a carpark, driveway or trailer. You’re used to just brushing the pedal to stop the car, but it now needs a bit more effort.
As for the garage work, plan was to get rid of these:
…and fit a single double width door in their place.
This would allow me to rearrange internally to put the ramp in the middle, and gain storage down each side wall.
Old layout:
This meant sticking an RSJ in.
Due to the way garage door suppliers seem to work, I couldn’t get a site survey done until AFTER the steel was in, which means several weeks with an OSB facia to my garage instead of doors.
With a centralised ramp position, this got me thinking about moving to a four post lift. This idea is still being internally debated, and thoughts on the decision are welcome - but the summary is:
Pro:
- Can store two cars in the garage, one above the other
Cons:
- Four poster is a much more imposing install, making the large workshop space feel small again
- Four poster might actually be worse for the type of spannering I do, but this can be mitigated by jacking beams etc.
- Ceiling height is a little low to comfortable get two cars one atop the other. Two Lotus type cars would be fine, but if I wanted my FF to sit beneath it for example, it would be very very tight.
In order to proactively address the last 'Con, the builders proposed changing the strusses for the centre two, effectively opening out a square. The trusses were reinforced further up, and they then replastered the ceiling to create a bit of a ceiling feature:
Though quite a large feature, it’s actually only intended to give the 2-Eleven rollbar the extra inch or so it needed to comfortably allow the FF to sit under it, if a four post ramp does get installed. Until then, it’s just a fancy light feature and nothing more as my scissor doesn’t raise that high anyway!
Between builder visits, door delivery and bad weather I bought a load of garage furniture and got to building flatpacks on a night:
I also did many, many tip runs. Think I counted 12 exclusively on garage stuff.
Floor got covered in plaster, so that came out to be jetwashed:
I did some sheeting and some painting:
The builders uncovered the previous DIY job (not mine) of the garage lighting, and were shocked I was still alive.
Which meant scope creep to run new lighting. This was an excuse to reposition all the spots too. No hexlights were harmed in the making of this garage.
Was my job to blank, fill and paint the old spot locations:
Bought and built a new workbench:
Dropped my tools:
Dropped my wine:
But eventually things started to come together:
Finally new door day came. It was a 5m insulated jobby from Aluroll.
With the door in, I could get on with the last bit of tidying, more scrubbing of the floor and retrimming a few floor pieces to suit the new layout.
…after some more tip runs
et voila.
Retrieval of the 2-Eleven was a very exciting day, spoiled only by the discovery the battery was completely dead - so had to unceremoniously push it into its new home.
Added some cabinet lights for the workbench:
Battery confirmed to be dead. 4v seems to be somewhat of a failure mode for a LifePo4. I’ve ordered a new one, but have also charged this one up - so will see what it does. 48hrs in and it’s still holding 13.8v.
The garage really has worked out a treat.
I now have excellent working space all around the car. With a full size car in here it’s always going to be cramped due to length. With the FF in for instance, it will almost be flush bumper to bumper.
Jury is still very much out on the four poster. It really would be a huge unit inside the garage and it might get annoying to step around the posts etc… but being able to have two project cars on the go is very enticing. Well, maybe not two projects - but at least two cars that justify garage storage.
I wouldn’t be able to spanner on a car whilst it sits above something else, so whatever takes the second spot would be regularly pushed out onto the drive under a cover between garage sessions but would still be workable, particularly if it was something small and definitely not FF sized. Input welcome from anyone who has installed a 4Post at home.
I now have very little time to finish the 2-Eleven off ready for first track outing (Easter Sunday), so really need to get cracking!
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Are you absolutely sure you have nothing more efficient than a V12 to goto the tip in?
Really?
Really, really?
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@Fonzey You should have given me a nudge. I’m in the lighting industry and would have got you some really nice lights.
Are you having lights low level for when cars are on the ramps?
If you think going to the tip is not very efficient in the Ferrarvan, can you imagine the very extended route back?
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I hadnt appreciated that!
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Cracking job! Great use of space.
You’ve been busy! 
Looks great, you can never have too much space to work on a car, even toy sized ones like ours.
The Volvo does a marginally better job, but sometimes you just have to justify a purchase y’kno!
I didn’t even think to ask, but thanks for the retrospective offer! I’ve dabbled with a few options for the ramp, but never really settled on anything. I have a long bar/magnetic lamp thing which is a really nice fit across the steel crossmember of the lift and it angles nicely into the engine bay from underneath. Arch work usually done in collaboration with a headtorch if needed.
Can’t afford shit like that!
Thanks chaps, I’m dead chuffed with it. The bits of car work I’ve done on evenings this week has been so relaxing and satisfying with the whole place being so tidy. I really hope I can keep it up!
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New battery arrived promptly so got that in, and car fired to life as hoped.
Gone with same brand/model as before. It’s a straight fit for “PC680” formfactor so no messing with brackets etc, straight in to the 2-Eleven factory bracket.
I did attach a quick release lead for my LifePo4 charger though so I don’t need to rip the seats out if I have a problem with this one.
Up next, whilst the seats were out I had some replacement seat rails to fit from Tillet. They issued a safety recall on a couple of items over Winter, so great service and was reassuring to get these sent out so quickly.
Seems like they just got a bit taller, with more material between the mounting holes and top edge:
The powdercoat had suffered a bit after a year of the originals, probably not helped by how exposed they are in the 2-Eleven but still a little disappointing. Gave these a good waxy coat of Dynax UC to keep the worst of the Anglesey out.
Nice feeling getting the seats back in, getting very close to going for a drive now.
Over the next couple of evenings I tidied away some odd jobs, got the oil/filter change done.
Then got to repairing some missing/broken fixings inside the front clam. Lotus just bonded some nuts in, and most of them have suffered. This means that to fit my splitter/front under tray I’m often fishing around with big repair washers and nuts which is a PITA.
I used my multi tool to carefully grind the old adhesive off and give me a flat surface:
Then fitted a bunch of these captive nuts, using small rivets:
I’ve not had the time, energy or patience to make up a fresh splitter this winter so I chose the least crap of my old damaged ones and bolted that on. I fancy a nice summer evening job sanding down a new one with a beer. Winter joinery just isn’t fun.
Refitted the carbon ‘buckets’ inside the wheel arches to cover over all my hard work for the Winter, and hide what I hope to be a very dry and very sealed braking system.
Really small jobs now, plates bolted/velcroed back on:
Then did the annual nip-up of the weep I seem to develop every winter on the front rad hose.
With all that done, it was time for the grand finale and one of the most annoying jobs with a scissor lift… the undertray. Luckily I’d treated myself to a new toy over Christmas which makes it slightly less awful.
…and I think I’m ready for tax!
I have a bit of calibration to do with the ABS once the car is up and running, but job one is just to go out and do some basic tests and see how the brake balance feels. Once I get the bias adjustment somewhere in the ballpark, I can start messing with the ABS. Excited!
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Satisfying when it all comes together 
The cordless ratchet is a godsend on a Lotus, removing / fitting the undertray takes half the time.
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With the weekend forecast to be grim, and with the following weekend booked away - I had to grab a dryish half hour at lunch time on Friday to give the car an initial shakedown.
Slapped some tax on, and off we go!
Initial impressions on the brakes were that I really wasn’t getting much stopping force at all. Even with all of my might going through my leg into the now unassisted pedal. The car slowed up, and the pedal felt great - but nowhere near the stopping force it once had.
Still, discs were covered in rust, pads cold, tyres cold, etc. Tried not to judge too much.
Put a splash of fuel in, and worked to generate some temperature. As the brakes cleaned up, things got a little better. I was getting a lot of intrusion though from the new ABS. It feels very different to factory ABS, much higher resolution in the pulses and feels “sandy” to the OEM “rocky” feel is the best way I can word it.
I flicked through the adjustment knob settings of the ABS and could certainly feel it backing off at the “dry” end of the scale, to the point I got the odd chirp of a locking wheel.
Out of interest, I then disabled the intervention completely. I honestly barely breathed on the pedal and I had a massive lockup at the rear! Could feel the car yaw a bit at the back and mirrors were full of tyre smoke.
With that in mind, I dialled the bias knob several clicks forward and through a few iterations I felt the braking get dramatically stronger and stronger. Eventually I was getting a front to lock, felt by a slight twitch in the steering wheel - so left the settings there and then re-engaged ABS.
Now when I slammed on, it was face detachingly strong. ABS still interfering but very subtly now.
I did a small handful of miles and then brought it back for a data dump. I did have some slight calibration issues that needed sorting…
I fettled some bits on the canbus to correct my dodgy data (The ABS Data was fine, so it wasn’t affecting the strategy - just was a problem with how my dash interpetted it).
Also checked some logs, and could see just how often ABS kicked in when it was switched on, but granted I being overly aggressive on the brakes as part of testing.
After making my tweaks, I squeezed another half hour in at the end of the day before it rained and the braking was loads better.
In terms of bias now at the master cylinders I’m approx 55/45 F/R. The actual bias at the calipers will be different still due to different caliper dimensions, pad/piston surface etc. This does contradict my prior calculations though, at 50:50 at the MC I was expecting 60/40 F/R which should have been right bang in the zone. The fact I’ve had to go 55/45 at the MC suggests that my rear braking is still stronger than I calculated/anticipated, it’s a good job I added bias adjustment I guess!
I think all of this could be subject to change once on a warm race track with everything properly up to temp, and being actually “on it”. I think I may need a spotter when I first go out on some knackered tyres and just try to find the sweetspot of locking the fronts a smidge before the rears go.
What is clear though is just how many sins the ABS covers up in terms of a badly balanced brake system. Despite the lower overall braking force I experienced when the bias was too far rear, the car was perfectly stable and very safe. I know from experience with the OE ABS that when I had too much rear bias, the car was borderline undrivable, so the ABS is already proving its worth.
On the topic of ABS, it does need calibrating properly still. I have it running with some placeholder data which is there or thereabouts, but I need to do some measuring to get it properly sorted.
Brakes aside, the car felt fantastic - nothing sounded/felt loose and the engine pulled strong and smooth.
With the weather predictably bad at the weekend I used the opportunity to be dragged round IKEA, not missing out on an opportunity for more garage storage in the form of a Kallax helmet shelf.
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Id recognise that SCS interface anywhere!
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Thanks for the update .
Might be too early to say, but how’s the brake pedal dead zone / meh feeling before the pads bite since removing the servo?
No, pretty happy to say all that is long gone. The rosejoints in the bias bar have the slighest of play in them which I was worried about when modulating it by hand on the bench, but it needs some play to allow the difference in balance. It’s undetectable to my feet.
Great news, sounds like a result
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I picked some wheels up from @seriouslylotus a few months ago, who subsequently shod them in A052 for me.
Will be my first time on these flavour of the year tyres, so looking forward to them - but I remain a staunch AR1 fan. The AR1 have lasted me brilliantly with no notable drop off in performance. Very keen to see how the CR-S is.
Can’t have a set of new wheels without protecting them from the legend that is performance friction brake dust.
Wheels are the same as the later Elise Cup cars, and are very light. The A052 is notably lighter than the AR1, and the wheels are also lighter than my 240R forged - which adds up nicely.
I then got onto making some measurements for the ABS Cal.
That left me with two more measurements to make.
Wheel circumference, easy enough but the recommendation from SCS is to measure the distance the car travels after 10x rotations, then divide that by 10 to average out tyre squish and whatever other factors are involved rather than just running a string or tape around the outside of the tyre… so I’ll do that when it’s dry.
Then finally vehicle weight. I have some data from last year when I was on the scales at SeriouslyLotus but this was an excuse to unveil a new toy…
I’ve kept my eyes out for some used corner scales for years, trying to nab a bargain but they just rarely come up - or are miles away when they do. Then these popped up, they’re a new product from a small fabrication place in Sheffield. They are a fraction of the price of most of the mainstream offerings, and are definitely on the ‘small fabrication operation’ end of the production scale, 3D printed components etc.
As a result, they lack some of the features of most purpose built corner scales such as the ability to tell you F/R ratio and cross-weight ratio, and instead just gives you the four weight readings for you to figure out yourself. Luckily there’s an app for that.
I bought them via the eBay shop, and I’ve never ever had such a better service from an eBay seller. They’re made on demand, so is a 2-3 week wait but all the way through I was getting photos and regular text updates. Seriously impressive, and I LOVE projects like this. His kit is very much aimed at the trackday geek/clubman racer and I believe started out as a one-off project to satisfy his own requirements.
So far, I’m dead impressed. They have adjustable feet so you don’t need separate levellers, and comes with custom made laser levellers to help you line it all up, but they were the only miss so far as I think they’re a bit wonky. I’ve tried them against known flat surfaces and they don’t line up with each other.
With that in mind, I reverted to one of my alignment poles and a spirit level to get my platform all straight.
Also sat each scale on a thick piece of steel that I’ve had in the bottom of a cupboard for about 18months whilst building up my collection of alignment toys.
The display box:
With it all hooked up and zeroed, I lowered the car onto them and gave each corner a good bounce.
The aforementioned app for plugging the data in:
Definitely not taking this too seriously
I calibrated the scales against a few known quantities and they look bang on. I also had some reference data from SL’s scales last year and everything is believable. I’ve got too much fuel in it technically, should be on half a tank for the ABS Cal so I can tweak this later - or just take off ~15kg.
As per last year though, no adjustment needed - it’s within tolerance for the right cross weights so that’s good. Note how it just hovers around +/- 0.1% tolerance with and without driver, just shows I guess how close the driver is to the COG of the car.
Brings me up to date, I’ll show off my other geo toys next week maybe. I’d like to at least check it even if I don’t make any adjustments before my first track outing, but this year I would like to experiment with something a bit more aggressive.
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Linky to the scales shop please?
No Exiges.com sticker on your helmet!
There was a generic eBay automotive discount code active when I ordered which saved a chunk more.
For what it’s worth, I reported the wonky laser levellers to the seller and he’s going to test and replace. He’s made 40 kits so far, and it’s clearly under constant development.