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[quote][i]Originally posted by Kyle T[/i] A couple of small updates. First up, engine mounts. A fairly common mod on the 2zz engined Elise/Exiges is to stick some polyurethane inserts into the existing engine mounts to stiffen everything up a bit. The main complaint that these address is the gear shift, when you're hoofing along the engine moves a lot and the cable linkage struggles with it when you're doing high rpm/aggressive shifts. I wanted to try this out (though I do feel the shift on my Exige is already much better than my Elise was) but also I was getting some rattling of my Exhaust on my diffuser and the clearances I have are just tiny - so reducing any engine movement should help with that too... right? I'd resisted the temptation to do this on my previous Elise because I'd had a bad experience in the past on my Subaru when changing bushes in the gear linkage from rubber to poly. It made my gear changes a bit nicer but the NVH was shocking, a well known specialist was convinced my gearbox was about to fail! They were a total pig to fit and I put off reverting for months as a result, but when I finally did it the gearbox was magically fixed! Reviews of the Lotus setup suggested that I'd get a bit of vibration at idle but wouldn't notice them when moving. Let's see about that... The 2zz has 4 mounts and the front and rear ones can be fairly easily removed and fitted with some powerflex inserts. Front: [img]https://i.imgur.com/ahEOUA9.jpg?2[/img] Rear: [img]https://i.imgur.com/thjMZPz.jpg?1[/img] I had a few hours on Friday night so got stuck in with the rear, because the internet said it was easiest. I stuck a spare jack under the sump and loosened it off, it was just one big through-bolt then 4 bolts that fixed it to the subframe. It came off easily enough and installation was as easy as popping in the powerflex ones - the original rubber would remain in place, this would just support it. [img]https://i.imgur.com/oU3B3Tw.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/iGrH1bn.jpg?1[/img] Getting the mount back in was a complete and utter arse. I'm not sure even now what the problem was, but the bolts just would not go back into the subframe - I didn't feel they were difficult at all to remove, certainly didn't get the feeling the thread was damaged or anything but I just couldn't get the bolts "started" in the holes. They're completely blind and I was doing it by feel, but access was fairly good and there was just no explanation for it. Eventually I got out an M10 tap and just gently turned it in as the end was tapered it was easier to get it started. I was able to turn it in the full way with no real resistance and certainly no crap came out with it - but that seemed to do the trick and my bolt would now go in. I wonder if there was a bit of powdercoat from the mount or something blocking the top, but it cost me at least an hour! [img]https://i.imgur.com/CF3L3nj.jpg?2[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/h7dXzTZ.jpg?1[/img] The following day I did the front, this was viewed as the "hard one" because the two bolts holding it to the engine were quite hard to access - but I had a shiny new set of "go-through sockets" which sit with a much lower profile than a 1/2 ratchet so this allowed me to get a socket wrench in and got it changed within about 10 minutes! Much easier than the rear. [img]https://i.imgur.com/M6zSV4r.jpg?1[/img] So without the bolt hole shenanigans I think this job would have been 30mins all in, but ended up spending half a weekend on it. I was eager to test though, and I have to say that I'm impressed. The car does vibrate at idle but barely more than it did before, and it doesn't feel uncomfortable - If I ever have a female passenger they may even enjoy it. As soon as the car is moving the vibration is completely gone and the shifts are indeed a lot nicer even at slower speeds. It may be my imagination but the car feels sharper too, like the weight transfer has noticeably come under control. While I had the diffuser off for the rear mount I adjusted a few bits and pieces to try and help with the rattling but we'll see how that goes once I can get the car properly warmed up and tested. The rattles I had were fairly easily produce-able with the car warmed up and coming down off-throttle through the revs. Between 5 and 4.5k RPM there would just be a rattle, sounds a lot like under-tray despite them being tight. Aside from that I had another change to make for my airbox. I did this on my Elise and it's a pretty standard affair for these cars. Toyota Racing Developments airbox: [img]https://i.imgur.com/lWBRIrt.jpg?1[/img] It basically just allows for a larger filter surface area and a slightly bigger opening but is still nicely OEM. It came I believe on the later Cup260 Exige cars so I figured I'd get it to go along with my 260 setup but also I had a 7 year old foam filter in the car which apparently aren't cleanable? I dunno - but foam filters have usually caused me issues historically so I was happy to get rid. [img]https://i.imgur.com/tz9WRI3.jpg?1[/img] This is the standard airbox with the wee round opening, this photo is missing the acoustic snorkel that the cars come with to keep sound in check. That would be in the bin. [img]https://i.imgur.com/ZzF82IE.jpg?1[/img] I remember this job being a complete pain in the dick on my Elise but it went in a treat this time around. The process involves bonding an adaptor plate to the base of the existing airbox which allows the Lotus and presumably Celica parts to merge. [img]https://i.imgur.com/AgWVn7b.jpg?1[/img] The bracket on the bulkhead is slightly the wrong shape for the TRD item but you can bend it and frig it into position. There are three rivnuts you need to line up, a pair and a single one. I seem to remember with my Elise that I bent the single one and left the duo static as it was just easier - but this gave me issues lining the airbox up with the throttle body. I followed the Lotus service notes this time and bent the duo and this worked much better. [img]https://i.imgur.com/k0RnkEl.jpg?2[/img] The airbox is on rubber isolation mounts so you get a bit of tolerance for roughly lining up the bolts and then just torquing it down to bend the bracket into position. Paper filter popped in a treat, and now you can see the new larger entry compared to the old one: [img]https://i.imgur.com/GlvWDvA.jpg?1[/img] Up top I just needed to blank off a vacuum hose that previously went to some kind of acoustic chamber in the bottom of the old airbox as it was now redundant. On my Elise this made a huge improvement to the soundtrack of the car particularly on cam. This time round I'll be honest it barely made a difference, I think removing the acoustic snorkel made 90% of the difference but I'm happier with the filter situation now. Perhaps on my Elise I would have had the same upgrade to soundtrack by just taking the snorkel off, perhaps the TRD airbox is the con of the century - but I can live with it! Running out of jobs to do now before trackdays start (first one scheduled 6th April) but I would like to stick a 4pt harness in before I go so that's likely to be the next update. [/quote]
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