Mudder

MV8, Thanks for all your great advice. I need to find a shop which can do some custom work on the ex-manifold. I’ll check with Josh.

My setup is completely different. see attached pictures. The real trouble makers are no3 and no4 down pipes, but no2 could ply a role, too. Very annoying! I hate to rig things, but….

Most probably. It took a little coaxing on the new ones.

MV8, Thanks for your input and kind offer. I am a little bit between a rock and a hard place here. Any which way I move things, there will be interference. The steering column has about .5mm wiggle room. I showed it to Josh Robbin’s the other day and even he scratched his head. IMO there are 3 options. 1. Build new headers. That’s my least favorite. 2. “Malletize” the pipes in the problem area. 3. Design a new lower steering column. Retain the attachment points but go slightly smaller diameter with tubing instead of solid stock. Please let me know your thoughts.

New Engine mounts are in. It took a little wiggling. I loosened all main bolts (3) including the transmission (T9) and jacked the engine up slightly. The new rubber mounts slid right in. The tranny mount hasn't arrived yet. The new mounts appear to be a little beefier. Then on the other side, the 25 year old ones might have settled a bit. (the new one is the one on the right)

New rubber mounts are ordered for tranny and motor. I'll report back.

Great idea! Thank you.

Thanks to everybody. I have a new set of rubber mounts on order. Will report back.

What a great forum! You guys are fantastic. I love it when people stay on topic and don't hijack topics. Thanks to all of you!

Again, Thanks to everybody for chiming in. I will report back!

The steering column on my LHD S3, 1700 Xflow runs in between No3 and No4 exhaust pipe. The clearance to either one of them is minimal. Minimal as in .5mm (.020 in) territory. I tried rotating the steering rack in it's mounts, but despite changing the location/angle of the column ever so slightly, I don't seem to be finding the sweet spot in between both stacks. At around 1500 RPM and then again at around 5000RPM the column reaches some sort of resonance and starts creating this awful sound while hitting the exhaust. Does anybody have a fix for that? Others must have a similar problem. I am thinking about having a slightly smaller diameter steering column machined from Titanium rod or getting my exhaust modified.

A BIG THANK YOU TO "IamScotticus" His Cooling System analysis and recommendations are spot on. I followed his advice in every detail and can report that the sealed system works perfectly. After 5 road tests totaling nearly 800 miles of occasionally very spirited driving, and everything from stop and go traffic in cities to climbing 11500ft passes in the Rockies, my new sealed system has not lost a drop of coolant. The temp. gauge stayed right around 80C the entire time. The warmup is nice and expeditious and everything works as advertised. The system utilizes an Elise expansion tank, mounted on top of the cruciform behind the radiator and a "submarine" which tees into the bottom radiator line. My 1700 Xflow S3 has a heater. No issues, whatsoever. GREAT JOB, SIR!!

Thanks again for chiming in !! I actually would adapt, simply to get rid of this massive chunk of metal. There is very little room to adjust. Maybe 3/4 of an inch in total. Replacing the belt requires to take the water pump pulley off and find a very close fitting belt. Otherwise the Alternator either hits the engine or the Steering column. The steering column is a topic for a separate post, I guess.

Bingo! That's the regulator! Nobody seems to be selling them, though. I shot IAT a mail and will report back. Thank you! No1 exhaust is running about 2 inches away from the regulator. I wonder whether it was fried, quite literally.

Is there some kind of data tag on your alternator? Thanks for the advice!