Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Need help from a fellow owner, something to air - discuss away!

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locost220
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby locost220 » Fri Jun 17, 2022 9:08 pm

Taking the bike carbs off is a pretty simple task of undoing the 4 x large jubilee clips that secure the blue silicon hoses joint bike carbs to the inlet manifold runners, disconnecting the choke, accelerator cables and the fuel supply.
Then onto the alternator save for a quick picture to remember how it goes back on.
Then the 8mm fixing bolts holding the manifold to the block.
Replaced the gasket after a clean of the block and the throttle bodies after I fished them out, once fitted and bolted I I clipped the injector wiring, refitted the accelerator cables I left on the bodies.
Had to relocate the throttle position sensor from the pedal to the throttle bodies.
Had to call it a day there due to duties calling but once the alternator is refitted and I secure some cables the temp fit of the engine bay kit will be complete before I start on the back end and the fuel pump change over.
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Locost book chassis, Undergoing testing post rebuild :D :?
Robin Hood 2B, keeping me sane
Sylva Leader, stuck to the trailer

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Jasonmpk
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby Jasonmpk » Mon Jun 20, 2022 5:01 pm

Looking good Rich, keep up the good work and keep us informed if it helps your engine finally.

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locost220
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby locost220 » Thu Jun 23, 2022 8:03 am

Other half finally gave me a break from holiday prep arrangements so got in the garage yesterday and finished the engine bay works off by firstly taking the opertunity to check and order a spare fan belt for the boot box, then refit and tension the belt in the alternator, fit the pressure relief valve.
Jacked up the back end and removed the undertray, drained the fuel tank then took off the low pressure fuel pump, filter and pipework.
Dug out the replacements and got it all fitted, refilled tank and pressure tested all pipework.
Double checked all fittings, put on a few cable ties to make things secure enough for a test and then amazed how easy it started up.
After a few mins I shut it all down, lowered the car and cleared the area so I could push car outside to run it a bit longer, checked the carb balancing and unsuccessful tried to lower the tick over, then a rev check still seems to indicate fluttering in the same rev range, but hoping that might be improved with some tinkering.
Maybe a short road test tonight..can't be any worse than last time I drove it.
Locost book chassis, Undergoing testing post rebuild :D :?
Robin Hood 2B, keeping me sane
Sylva Leader, stuck to the trailer

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locost220
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby locost220 » Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:46 pm

Well the test drive around the block a few times a week ago went better than expected, seems to have less disruption in the 1500 - 2200 rev range, although there is a issue when jabbing the throttle, in that it will back fire and virtually die, this i assume is due to the fact i have relocated the TBS back to the Weber TB shaft but not recalibrated it, could not find the serial to USB lead so cannot recalibrate it at present, but all in all encouraging.
Locost book chassis, Undergoing testing post rebuild :D :?
Robin Hood 2B, keeping me sane
Sylva Leader, stuck to the trailer

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Wingco
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby Wingco » Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:10 pm

Fingers cross Richard, lets hope you found the issue once and for all.
Mirror, Signal go faster pedal !!

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locost220
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby locost220 » Mon Jul 11, 2022 6:53 am

So just over a week ago I took a prearranged trip over to Matt so he could use his laptop ( my daughters one was in the repairers ) and his serial lead adaptor ( my new one arrived that morning so we used that instead ) to initially set up the throttle position sensor now it was back on the throttle bodies and not the accelerator pedal shaft.
As I arrived I told Matt that we def seem to be making improvements as the on going issues between1500-2100 were less than previous ( I appreciate I may never get rid of this as the set up may be not perfect due to financial restraints).
Matt had a tinker checking the balancing of the TBs that were okay but managed by altering the set up to bring the tickover down some, but the car would still bog down if given a quick blip.
Once he had his laptop connected it was clear there was an issue with the throttle position sensor set up, checking my temp wiring a few times, a bit of goggle searching and retrying both with multimeter and the pc we came to the conclusion the TPS had been a TPS too long, I tried to get it apart without destroying it whilst Matt lashed up a tps he had on a set of R1 bike carbs, this did not have the correct mounts but some cable ties and bubble gum gave a mounting that allowed a couple of blasts round his estate in between Matt fiddling once again with ‘der map’ .Things were definitely getting better up to about 80 per cent I recon.
After a comparison short drive in Matts zetec/bike carb Indy whereby I realised how much further up I sit in mine I bidded farewell after about 3 hrs for a silly face drive home thinking I would try to order a replacement tps for the Weber throttle bodies and reach a bit further to perfection ( o silly me ).
So I was aware that next door neighbours were having a late party, I am not sleeping well in the heat anyway and being as I decided to try out the Locost on Duncan buck barn to chalet run the next day I decide to leave the Robin hood in the garage and take the Locost to work Saturday night that is in the right direction, take a microwave curry, sleeping bag and roll up mat and unsuccessfully get some sleep on the office floor, up at 5 to get ready for 6 am depart, kit car will not start, flatten the battery and probably flooded it, get the works truck and run it for an hr with jump leads charging the Locost whilst I take the plugs out and dry them over a flame, spin over the car a few times to get excess fuel out the cylinders. Called the other half to see how much Kip she got as she was walking to work as I was meant to be on the run, never heard a thing she said and slept like a baby :o . So I could have had a better night sleep and swapped over to the Robin hood if I had stayed at home, o well.
After checking for a spark and suspecting the tps had moved a few more cable ties got me home to bed for a few hrs sleep.
During the week I called Webcon and spoke to really helpful guy called Martin and seems my tps is really old one (20 years ) and not the ones they were using when they shut the Alpha web division a few years ago and mine was a loggerrivmic type and not the linear type which in it self could have been causing issues all along.
So after trying my own adaptor for Matts R1 Tps to no avail I was back on the phone Thursday to order the conversation kit from Webcon (ouch ), that arrived Friday so I had a gander at how it might fit in the evening, Saturday afternoon after doing auxiliary drive belt change on in laws car I remove the throttle bodies again as I could tell I had a couple tight screws to get out and manage to fit the adaptor kit that comprised a new linear tps, couple brackets, screws and electrical plug. Had to figure out a way to fit it all as no instructions or u tube videos I could find, was not too bad.
After run out in the Robin Hood yesterday I remounted the throttle bodies and all the ancillaries and having downloaded the mitie software from the ME motorsport website ( the ECU manufacturer) to my partners laptop, I managed to calibrate the new tps, then made the connections permanent once it started and run on tick over as good as it had at Matts.
Packed all the bits back in the garage for a late afternoon test drive round the local streets and nice to get it running again but still got intermittent issues when accelerating at about 2500 so looking to check the spec of the injectors and replacing at least one I know was not 100 per cent and then maybe a RR session.
It also suffers with poor starting when hot so more work to do yet.

Pics seem in no particular order
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Locost book chassis, Undergoing testing post rebuild :D :?
Robin Hood 2B, keeping me sane
Sylva Leader, stuck to the trailer

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Jasonmpk
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby Jasonmpk » Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:07 pm

Well done for keep trying things, am sure the choke size of the carbs should be ok as others have the same carbs and satisfied with them. Try another go with the colourtune kit on each plug and do the same test as driving and planting ya foot while not turning the wheels. At least then you'll know what the mixture is during each test so it will give you a basic set to start with. I've a flow meter for bike carbs that you can borrow if you want, it and the colourtune kit helped me get my car set up with out a rolling road costly setup.

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DJ.
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby DJ. » Mon Jul 11, 2022 6:41 pm

It seems like you are finally making some progress, I hope you can fine tune it and get it driving better soon :D

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locost220
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby locost220 » Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:23 pm

Jason it on Weber 45 throttle bodies now, Matt checked the balance last weekend.
I could try the colour tune again out of interest ( Matts
got it back at present ).

Tonight I did a bit more investigation initially to check if the injectors were leaking by as it seems to have issues starting when warm, this proved to show there were no leaks from the seats but did lead me to question at least one other thing, video sent to Matt followed by a few message and calls and some adjustments to the ECU settings including turning the VVT off ready for another test drive tomorrow..
Locost book chassis, Undergoing testing post rebuild :D :?
Robin Hood 2B, keeping me sane
Sylva Leader, stuck to the trailer

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DJ.
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Re: Locost ''Eleanor'' Rebuild

Postby DJ. » Mon Jul 11, 2022 9:28 pm

Good luck, I will keep my fingers crossed.


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