Ah damn I forgot about that bundle, only about £40 more than I paid (condenser and 2 fans were from seriouslylotus).
edit Oh, it was plus VAT at pro alloy so actually about 140 more, I don’t feel so bad now!
Started work on this today. Sure I must be crazy to do this on my day off. Couldn’t even get into the garage to begin with.
Was immediately faced with a hurdle when my trolley jack wouldn’t work because of a low oil level so I had to go out and buy the right kind of oil.
Eventually got started and managed to get the clam off without too much drama. I have no idea how this happened though, I thought it was fine when I removed the bolt but when I looked later it was all broken. This is the mounting near the headlamp.
I’ll have to fix this before it goes back on the car.
I suppose this is one way to avoid losing your indicator…
I think I’ll look at those clips which fix this issue.
I replaced the tow post as an easy win (easy? I still had to dremel off the bolts attaching the old one). The new one is burlier and has better mountings. It’s also not completely rotten.
Then things got more challenging than I expected. It’s definitely more of a pain to get the rad out than on an S1. There’s so many difficult to access bolts and having to lift out the whole cooling pack, oil coolers and all is a pain. I had to disconnect so much of the wiring harness to give enough space, all the oil cooler lines etc. I promptly spilt an entire container of oil all over the floor. Predictably the ac lines were impossible to undo, both ended up shearing off at the connection with the condenser. I’m worried about how to undo the other end which goes into the sill now without damaging the pipe which goes into the sill.
Anyway, after several hours it’s off.
The tow post is one of Type116 M10 posts, feels much sturdier than oem.
In addition I think I’ll order a new pair of driving lamps (spots) and brackets as the ones that I took off are pretty manky. Next step is to try and remove the ac drier and the other lines so I know what other parts I need to order.
Good stuff Andy, you’re certainly getting to know your car! At least you’ll know it all works when it’s put back together and it’s all buttoned up nicely 
It maybe an idea to check the horn whilst you’re there, easier to swap out when the clams off
Interesting that you’ve got one of those Type 116 M10 tow posts, are they worth the money? A month later and I’m still waiting for a proforma for payment, did you have an issue when you ordered yours?
I just messaged him on here and he sent PayPal details straight away. Price was very comparable to the usual eliseparts offering so as its beefier I thought it was worthwhile.
I will have to do a full electrics, water and oil leak test before the clam goes back on fully, I’m sure I’ll forget something
I think I’ve now saved all but one of the ac pipes - the thin one which runs from the sill to the condenser.
You can see originally I thought I’d just replace the whole pipe so I made a real mess of it
Now I’m wondering if this can be cut somewhere along the good part of it’s length and a new union made, with a new bit of pipe made up to go from there to the condenser fitting? I will try phoning some mobile AC repair type places tomorrow.
I have removed the drier now. That meant I could remove from the car the pipe which goes condenser > drier. I put one half of the seized connection (the end which was originally part of the condenser) in the vice and heated it using an old hair dryer. I was then able to eventually undo the connection and I hope that pipe will be ok to go back on the car. To replace both of these pipes completely (if Lotus even have them in stock at the moment) is almost £300.
I’ve ordered a new receiver/drier (£20 incl p&p), new spot lamps and brackets.
I was then able to dismantle the cooling/rad pack and reassemble using a new condenser, new fans and new (black) radiator.
This has now gone back into the shroud and is back on the car so re-assembly has begun! Day off today but next step will be to reconnect all the wiring loom and oil coolers etc.
Getting some pretty vivid flashbacks reading that. I butchered the exact same pipes.
For what it’s worth, my mobile AC guy charged £180 which included two trips (one to measure up and order in some unions) and another to make up a new pipe and regas the whole system. I didn’t think that was bad at all for how long he was messing about in my garage.
I have a couple of options as I see it.
- I’ve sent an enquiry to junks on seloc to see if he has one of these pipes.
- I could also see if they are available new from lotus at the moment.
- phone around and try to find a mobile ac guy who can help make a new pipe as part of their work to regas and test
With option 1 and 2 I could either try to get the other end of the pipe at the sill disconnected and replace the entire pipe, or cut it part way along and mate the two pipes together using something like an ac pipe splice repair kit. Maybe if I can find out the exact fitting size on the condenser I don’t even need a lotus pipe to do this but could source a bit of pipe from another car?
junks is on exiges.com as well folks
You’re probably going to want an AC guy to come to your house anyway to gas/test the system before the clam goes back on (i’d certainly recommend that!) so maybe worth ringing around. Lotus stock does come in occasionally, when I was looking they had no stock but a friend was able to get some a few months later for his rebuild.
Junks did have some pipes, just not the ones I needed. Elise-Spares are also worth a shout, as they tend to strip a lot of low mileage cars for racing.
Thanks for the heads up Andy 
I do have some AC pipes but not many at all sadly 
Thanks for the reply. I checked the condenser to drier pipe which I thought I’d saved but the thread on the nut wasn’t great and I was worried it would cross thread on the condenser when I tried to do up the connection.
I bit the bullet in the end and called B&C. They confirmed the two pipes from the condenser were both showing as in stock on the shelf so I put a (rather expensive) order in.
The ideal situation now is to completely replace both pipes, but the one which goes to the sill is being a little bitch. It just starts spinning the whole connection and pipe when trying to undo the nut and I can’t for the life of me work out how to get it undone. I even managed to get to the back of the other side behind the dash but there’s no obvious way to hold it still while wrenching on the nut from the front side.
Andy you need to use heat on the conections, obviously the heat needs to ne kept away from the fibregĺass etc but a little warmth will work just be gentle and take your time.
Wòrst case scenario is to gently cut along the nut of the damaged pipe, again tàke your time, then a little heat and it will work loose.
I tried a bit of heat but so far no luck, I will continue to try,not expecting delivery of the new parts until end of the week. Will I be able to sufficiently tighten the new pipe nut on without being able to stop the other half of the connection rotating as I do it up though? If I get desperate I can try with the dremel to very carefully open the nut up as you suggest.
The tech notes/manual talk about replacing a certain amount of the PAG46 oil if you replace components of the AC system (condenser, drier and some pipes in this case)
Condenser; 30 cm³
Evaporator; 30 cm³
Any major pipe or hose; 10 cm³
Receiver-drier; 30 cm³
Does anyone know if I will need to do this, and if so how? Or would it be added back in as part of the AC test and regas?
I bought some PAG oil for lubricating my o’rings/fittings etc - and the rest was dealt with by the regas (as far as I know!)
Only if the aircon regas machine does not refil the oil when its gassed. Most modern machines put the oil in at sametime.
Thanks, I’m really interested to find out what else needs replacing to get this working eventually!
On mine i replaced all the O rings, condensor, receiver dryer, pressure valve and full vacum out and re oil/gass.
