Why change it????

General General Lotus Talk
21

Hey, Nicolas,that’s exactly what I feel, I was reading with interest all of this UCR and I found that all the gears I like, even 5th, as I have used it quite a lot in the streets, in Italy I did 135MPH (indicated) and could do better with the 190 HP upgrade I believe.Anyway, I always felt that 1st gear was waaaay too short. So you say that there is a different one that I can put? In order to install that different gear, do I need to change anything else? or is it just a matter of taking down the box and replacing one cog with another?And finally, who sells these different cogs?Cheers,Uldis

22

Hi Uldis,last year i fitted myself the g/b kit…but with the 3 1st gear. Now i will swap it with the longer one. I have to take down the g/b again, open it and swap input shaft + 1st gear output shaft. The bigger job is to take the g/b out, but now i can do it in 3 hours, the same to put it back.After u have the g/b in your hands it is an aesy job to open it and change gears. U do not need any extractor. It is a very nice g/b to work on…and i’m software engineer…not mechanic…CiaoNicolas

23

I understand then that you fit the CR gears to your box, but that this time you’re going to fit a slightly different (taller) 1st gear.Are you going to leave the others as they were originally? I ask that because I saw your ad about selling the UCR kit.So, where do you find about these alternative ratios, any knlowledgeable guy in the UK? Lotus directly?Cheers,Uldis

24

I’ll have the UCR g/b with a longer 1st.I’m selling another UCR gearkit.I always ordered these kits from Quaife directly.U can contact them.Where did u get your UCR?CiaoNicolas

25

OK, I’ll contact Quaife directly, thanks.BTW, my gearbox is completely standard.Hey, Tone.I was re-reading your post and you say that you installed the alloy winders, my car came original with aluminum winders, I thought all did.And the K&N issue… I find it hard to believe that somebody would ditch the good pipercross setup and … how is it installed?Anything like the picture I’m going to try to attach? (let’s see if I can) [image]http://www.bookatrack.com/g2/uldis/3/640.58.engine1.jpg[/image] Uldis[This message has been edited by Uldis (edited 30 January 2003).]

26

UldisStandard winders were ex Astra plastic things - very in keeping with the car!! (not!)I’m not very technical with car engines - I know where the petrol, oil and water goes but that’s about it. But the duct from the air box looks similar to yours. K&N filter, pleated, cone shaped thingy is located at near side air intake hole. Rob Gibbons does the technical bits - I do the driving bits!!

27

Alley winders were standard on both our cars from new as well !!

28

Uldis,Don’t be taking my photos without asking [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image] That photo looks very familuar… http://www.lotussource.com/lsGallery/exige/photo05.jpg Seriously, what did you cut the holes you put in the rear of your car with? I looked at your gallery at bookatrack and was looking into doing the same thing…ThanksRoy

29

Hang on, they are the same pictures !!!Roy, i’m surprised you haven’t got the catch tank and breather kit fitted or is that an old picture?

30

Nicholas, I don’t actually have a problem with the shift from 1st to second. I was was just saying it’s not hugely different from the standard set.I’ve had another look at my figures today, and it’s actually better than I thought.If I remember rightly, shifting up at 7800rpm, results in a drop to roughly 4800rpm on the standard box, or 5200rpm with the UCR. Not a bad improvement. I don’t want to raise 1st gear as it will put a bit more strain on the clutch when pulling away from standstill.

31

Phil,What’s a catch tank and breather thingy?Roy

32

Roy,It looks like this (the blue piping) [image]http://mysite.freeserve.com/myexige/Upgrade/rebuild/2002_0717_222402AA.JPG[/image] The pipe from the cam cover feeds to the catch tank and the breather kit removes the need to feed excess crank pressure and oil vapour back through the throttle bodies for emission purposes.As the rear crankshaft oil seal is one of the problems of the K series, the kit should also help prevent the seal from blowing out, RussT has had a couple go, and mine was on the way out when i stripped the engine.

33

Roy, Phil,nice spotting!They are in fact the same pictures. My car looks exactly the same, that’s why I took the liberty of displaying that one (but note that I didn’t say it was mine! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image] ).Also, you can see that I cut the top because there was an obvious difference, Roy’s car is LHD!Now, to the holes.You can see in this thread: http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/001090.html how it was done. Basically I don’t like fake things, everything has to have a purpose. And the black sticker was beginning to come off with the (burnt) paint because of the exhaust heat. It needed to be opened.I started with drilling a hole and then inserted an open ended saw, but it was painfully slow. So, for the other one I just drilled hole after hole around the end and then separated the holes with the saw to later smooth them with a file.Took me about 2 hours.And since I could not open the holes in the top for the lights, I had to use double-sided foam tape. The big question was if it was going to hold up with the hot air blowing there.I’m happy to report that after 4500 miles with trackdays and a trip to Italy, they are as secure in place as the first day.Cheers!Uldis [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]