Lotus Twin Cam build update, we discovered something that SHOCKED us. Why would they do that?

[@bernardshaw758]

44 years married don’t regret a second. Hope you have a good one. Love to you both. Bernard.

[@TheMadManPlace]

Just discovered your channel As a retired Automotive fitter and machinist it makes my heart warm to see that there are still people that take the time to REALLY set everything up properly in a racing motor. It can make SUCH a difference to the performance of the motor AND the reliability. So much so that "back in the day" I ran a 1300cc Kent motor and people in the 1600 class protested me because as far as they could see, the only way that I could be dropping them like I did and be putting up the stage times that I was, was if I had put VW pistons in (making it an 1840 I believe) Having the Race Scrutineer Stewards do a pipette test to determine the actual swept volume was SO SATISFYING... Result : 1298cc That actually brought me in a lot of "private" customers... So much so that I eventually had to stop driving myself because I did not have enough hours in a day to be able to do my own car as well. As you probably know, Life Happens... Keep up the good work.

[@richardwells4370]

I used to have a lotus Elan S130 , with a big valve engine, It was my pride and joy , ,seeing you work on this brings back happy memories 👍👍

[@rogerking7258]

Check the valve clearances again after you've torqued the head down. Pound to a penny they've changed due to distortion. I learned this forty five years ago when I built up a spare head assembly for a BDG only to be told that the clearances were all wrong when it was actually fitted to a block. When it was removed, the clearances were all correct again. I've checked this on several different OHC engine types since and have always found the same problem.

[@MegaReddevil71]

Thanks for showing the twin cam strip and build

[@richnorris1061]

Congratulations 🥳🎪💕 all the very best and remember:-) the two most important words in any relationship are “yes dear “ 👍🏻

[@christopherfisher8748]

Really enjoyed this ! I had a Lotus twincam many moons ago and wished it was still in my garage.

[@M3PH11]

1:42 thats why you make the storage cost astronomical. They only way these guys will pick stuff up fast is if it's not economical for them to leave it there.

[@petert3355]

Yeah, give em a week from the day that they are notified that it's ready to pick up, on the 8th day it's 50 dollars/quid and then an extra 50 every day after. (including weekends)

[@davidmclean6178]

Just passed my 35th anniversary, congratulations Lee. Another fantastic video, you just keep getting better and better.

[@Threelinkdave]

Just getting married?. Recently celabrated our 51st. Seriously best wishes and good luck

[@christophergoodman5107]

I have been married since 2,may,1992 ,it was just what I needed, when I needed it. Our youngest was 2yrs old when we tied the knot, I believe that it is the smartest thing I've ever done my life. Although it took a little bit of getting used to, but, I would not change a bloody thing.

[@jamesplotkin4674]

Best of life to you and your lady. Getting married is stressful, but life's rewards are tremendously satisfying. I've been married to my best friend going on 14 years.

[@sipyman1974]

Love the lotus engine build, it's looking great, can't wait to see it completed, be nice to see it running in future,. Get customer to send in a video.

[@nigel2246]

As owner of the TC engine, have loved following your vids, tech comment and progress. Looking forward to running the finished job in anger…..meanwhile having heard your news here, good luck Lee for later this week !

[@henktulp4400]

Meself and several of my colleague countryside-workshop-owners.... we usually don’t charge storage;often we’ll get a job being optimistic about the time WE need to get the job done (but basically it is ok to know there is enough job ‘on the parking’ to carry on...) besides in my area room isn’t too much of an issue..... But every now and then someone doesn’t collect a car that is ready to be collected..... if that takes too long we’ll start making calls,in case of no luck:we send a lettre stating a date from whereon a charge is due.... (I’ll make sure I’m HAPPY with the amount...) Good thing you just keep costumer’s engines.... in our case it is complete cars.... (trucks,trailers,boats....) Greetings from the Netherlands,LOVE your channel,keep it up!!!!

[@hmerced3668]

Congratulations from Waco Texas. I've been married for 43 years.

[@andrewshenton417]

I had a "Vegantune" Supersprint 1650cc twink... I bought Dave Vizards book "How to tune the Twin Cam" lots of little tips on how to get extra BHP when building. My Twink was pushing 173bhp before the build. 1972 Ford Escort Twin Cam (one of the last 6 made.... and sold by Roger Clark. Wished I had kept it! ( Made out of Tomato tins!) 😢😢

[@PhilG999]

Reminds me of the time an acquaintance of mine and his son thought they were going to set up a shop nearby. Went there one day and they had a head off something (BMW IIRC) and all the shims scattered about. They couldn't figure out how to get it all back together. Didn't keep track of what was where to begin with and didn't have any measuring tools to help. I DID NOT offer to bring mine! Some people don't know when they're over their depth!

[@stephensaines7100]

By searching for more information on Barnstaple (my extended family live in Devon and Somerset, albeit I live in Canada) I tripped across the origin of 'Barum Engines'. The old Latin name given by the Romans for Barnstaple was Barnastapolitum...shortened to....*Barum*. My apologies if most of you knew that.

[@donziperk]

Not to pick to fine a line but the part of the lathe you were adjusting is called the compound.

[@johnelliott4521]

Glad Ifound your channel rebuilding a lotus twin cam from a jensen.

[@richardchamings7241]

Hey mate, having been married for 17 years all I can say is "Good Luck!" for Friday. 👍🏼

[@beachcomber2008]

The verb TO COPE comes in various flavours. Cheers.

[@amandagardner565]

i wish you many years of happy marriage, i just passed 27 years last April 1st. the best advice i can give is that you remain CALM and LISTEN to your spouse when your head (emotions) want to YELL at your partner for some perceived wrong doing. (that advice is for both of you) i never saw my parents arguing, they did that in the middle of the night when they though us kids were asleep, and thery resolved whatever problem before sleeping RIP Geoffrey and Patricia Gardner, mum passed away in March 2022 hopefully she's now with dad again. over 50 years married.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Good luck both. 👍👍

[@S.teve.]

The welded timing chain area on the Twincam head you think caused a leak has a separate cork gasket that is trapped and compressed between the head and the timing cover. Nothing to do with the head gasket.

[@markrs2000]

Good luck and have a happy future.

[@richardhartley1705]

Congratulations have a great day Lee 👍

[@pauliboo2]

That was a really interesting video, especially with the way you reduce the gaps, and facing the head. Congrats on the wedding, hope you have many happy years together!

[@nigelwomersley403]

Marriage is a bit like a deck of cards, in the begining all you need is two hearts and a diamond, by the end you wish you had a club and a spade .... Ha ha ha ha !!

[@Marcus_from_OZ]

Best of luck for Friday from OZ.

[@rayclark44]

All the luck in the world to you both 🥂🔔🔔💍🎩🍀 Take care & stay safe guys

[@rockydavies9555]

Congratulations

[@mickymondo7463]

Never hold pistons in the jaws of the lathe, always use a split collar, preferably in a 4 jaw independent so it can be dialed in accurately, if you must hold the piston directly in the jaws use some brass or ally shim stock between the jaw and piston to protect the piston

[@ToreDL87]

Probably what he did anyway (shim), and if he didn't he's done it for years and would know what works or not.

[@stephensaines7100]

Or leather and/or rubber/cork pads.

[@ColinWatters]

Curtis at Cutting Edge Engineering Australia has a neat solution. He drilled and tapped holes in the end of the jaws so he can screw L shaped shims to them. Far easier than juggling with several bits of metal at once.

[@johngibson3837]

Aye it's just wrong

[@johngibson3837]

In fact Imbarest for you

[@SuperbikeSurgeryTV]

Why don't you change shims? that's the whole point of having a shim there, to facilitate easy clearance adjustment.

[@georgehardin3037]

Now you gotta build the Lotus Elan it goes in.😎

[@tonytasker489]

I've been married for 4 wonderful years. The other 16 years have been a nightmare. 🤣

[@leedrakeley8583]

Another awesome video with great content and explanation, Its always good to see how you guys carry out machine work..love your work..😎

[@brianwithers4438]

Good luck with the wedding, cork gaskets was all ways a good source of oil leaks, on any engine type, the ford grey synthetic gasket is a lot better at keeping oil in.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

On A and B series BMC etc. rocker cover cork gasket, used red hardening gasket sealer on the rocker cover side and gold non-hardening on the cylinder head side. Never leaked after. Same on other cork gaskets like thermostat housing etc..

[@michaeltb1358]

All seems so complicated. I owned a 1967 Elan S3 for 18 years. It was burning oil so I took everything apart and replaced the rings. Working in a small garage with the car on ramps. I don't know how i did it, but I did. I also reshimmed the valve clearances a few times. Must have been OK as I recently checked and the car is still registered.

[@Popmonkey69]

Legend has it the phone is still ringing 🤣

[@TheDynamiteGuy]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[@keanMechanic]

Have you ever used soft jaws on you lathe? Would make machining pistons a lot safer.

[@alancollard8939]

someone else thats a real machinist

[@markmawson1]

Get rid of that 2 post lift and get a Mezzanine floor installed then have an access hatch in the Mezzanine floor and install a crane that can lift engines up and rotate 360° then you could use upstairs as storage for motors to collect and use it as an engine assembly clean room, My old boss did it with a 2 storey building he owned that had a wooden floor on the first floor, he had the lot ripped out just so the shell of a building was left then he had a mezzanine floor fabricated on stilts and installed and he had a crane installed and he kept all spare engines up there, there must have been 80 or 90 engines up there which he used to buy off scrap men or breakers so if a customer needed a certain engine for a their car he could recon the one instock then swap it for theirs on an exchange basis. If any machines are a bit too tall put them along the back wall and then don't make the mezzanine floor go right to the back of the building.

[@drummingriffin]

Hi, you came up in my recommendations. Interesting stuff you are doing. So you are getting married? Congratulations, all I will say on that is if you have both found the right one you will have a lovely life together. We are sneaking up on 45 years next month, had our ups and down obviously. If you face any problems together as one, you can get through most things life throws at you. Good luck, I am subbing and hitting the bell. take care, Norm.

[@stanpritchard7436]

We all make mistakes but it's not too late to change.

[@AuMechanic]

Could be the head surface where its welded as you say and a haircut has cleaned up it, OR, it might be a pin hole in the weld itself. Maybe blast a bit of penetrating solution of some kind on one side and see if anything weeps through the weld itself. Easy to check than it is to pull the head off the fix the weld later.

[@jimmycricket5366]

Hey a good idea is to put a wrap of wide masking tape around the piston where the lathe jaws will contact so you don't run the risk of scoring the piston.

[@donziperk]

Actually the best way is aluminum sheet bent to grip each jaw.

[@fredflintstone8048]

I never thought for a second that the motive behind charging people for storage of engines was to make any kind of profit. I assumed that it was as you state, to motivate people to come and pay the bill and get the engine out of the shop for the sake of making space. i'm a bit surprised that anyone would see it as a money making scheme. It just goes to show that there is more than one way of viewing matters. Good luck in your marriage. I do hope you have a long and happy life together. So many people end up regretting getting married at some point. Divorce it usually a nightmare, especially if children are involved.

[@philtucker1224]

Maybe the guy with the VXR is going through a temporary cash flow problem with the car just now and finding £300 when you really haven’t got it is tough..

[@fredflintstone8048]

@@philtucker1224 Or it could be that he just doesn't want to pay the bill. It's an interesting aspect of human nature that people are usually able to come up with the cash to pay for things they find very important, but are broke when it comes to other things. The most presumptuous part about them I feel is that they feel it's OK to try and get someone else to pay those expenses for them, and that's essentially what they're doing when they don't come through on their part of the bargain. My feelings are that if a person is "REALLY" operating so close to a financial edge where all of a sudden they don't have the money for some reason, they should not get involved in these deals to begin with.

[@philtucker1224]

@@fredflintstone8048 you tell’em Fred!😊

[@tycorcoran4490]

Oh dear, I have only been married for 37 years and living with the same angel for 40. God knows how she has put up with me so long

[@theo_korner]

Why don't you use a slit sleeve to get the piston chucked in the lathe? Spreads the force of the chuck evenly on the piston. I'd be scared to damage the piston

[@arniejohanson8153]

Could have been an emergency repair at the track. Also, congratulations.

[@xyzyxz8845]

I`ve had a TC Engine over pounds 16.000 building costs from Eamon Swords Lotus Club England and later we find out as we have had problems in driving, the engine has had 4 different pistons from several manufactors inside. Another street TC engins new build has had no rear crankshaft seal build in from this "engine specialist" as the car was on the street and looses oil. ... So we have to bring both engines to another shop in Leverkusen Germany who fixed them right. Costs EUR 9.000.-- incl. material for the steel crank engine with the wrong pistons!!! Eamon never was seen!!!!

[@davidwilmshurst3211]

Hey, I've been 51 years so far married and cannot imagine any other life. Work at it and enjoy!!!

[@bobawatsit]

I have always swapped shims from tight to loose, sometimes you get away with it

[@plumberman4u]

Storage Fees - YES. The incentive though would be to get engine back in a better state than when they left it.

[@paulnolan1352]

Your opening comments were, ‘this time next week I’ll be a married man ‘. You cracked me up because you looked more like a condemned man!.

[@BobGrMi2]

Congrats

[@charliespann3967]

great video, Thanks

[@tonychambers6275]

Definitely charge storage we had it where people have the motor done paid and then not pick it up for a month or two and with trucks don’t take long till you run out of space

[@bostafani8037]

Big congratz for you this week on the upcoming marriage bro

[@99hjhm]

Nice piston fixture for the lathe. 😕

[@EricaMTB]

When things aren't going well, remember - it's cheaper to keep her!

[@brucejohnson6398]

Sound all good. Fear not the gold ring of bondage and subservience...

[@mikehipperson]

Q: what's the worlds most dangerous food? A: Wedding Cake!

[@smal1393]

Good audio & video for me

[@remfanuk1970]

ring ring, ring ring...do you need an admin? 😆

[@garyhooper2728]

Watch for leaks on the TC during my Ford apprenticeship (Harold Hill) the toolmaker instructor had the toolmaker apprentice guys spend hours flatten every surface of his TC it still leaked mainly from the front cover

[@mikeprzyrembel6308]

Was that the instructor with the mk1 Lotus Cortina, didn't get on his section but did the rounds of the machine shop and worked on the Transit with the Galaxie engine? Apprentice supervisor was Brian Simmonds IIRC.

[@Nick-mq9on]

Can the new Missus twist a wrench?

[@spunkbubble1]

Maybe in the next unit, find the area that no use for machining/working and throw some racking in as a set aside/storage. Make some money out of a dead area.

[@jimcraig6523]

My dads advice on marriage 50 years ago "Son never get married until you have enough sense and once you have enough sense you wont get married"

[@ryanharriss7950]

🤣

[@Slim885]

I’m your age still not married and I’m now starting to think 🤔 I totally 💯 regret it !!! Go Lee !! Dave from New Zealand 🇳🇿

[@Chris-hd3yc]

Sound advice.

[@jimcraig6523]

@@Willam_J My wife and I have been married for forty+ years and we have never considered divorce, murder yes but never divorce.

[@sampeck9235]

@@Willam_J Epic 😄 🤣 Fucking creased.

[@KensSmallEngineRepair]

Any lube on the ARP Head Studs for installation?

[@whizzo94]

Bit disappointed that you haven't got some soft packing in the lathe chuck jaws so you don't damage the piston.

[@1ginner1]

5:45 use some Scotchbrite to deburr.

[@dperreno]

Congrats on getting married!

[@lesliecarson261]

What paint do you use for painting the engines and do you prime them first.

[@rudiklein]

Marriage will be great. You're a nice guy and I'm sure your to-be wife is a great lady. Have a great wedding!

[@lifeofderv]

The old lotus cylinder heads would snap and crack quite frequently on the timing chain end if they aren't done properly they will leak like it has done

[@stuyoung8572]

Great informative video as usual Lee 🤘🏻 Just wanted to raise a point, from a time-served Turners perspective……I must say that using hard jaws to grip the Piston heads whilst you were facing them is a definite no-no in my book fella. I’ve seen this done countless times, over many years, by so-called ‘tradesmen’ and they nigh on always end up with marks/indentations in the workpiece, caused by the hard jaws, no matter how light the clamping force is. Obviously, I don’t need to tell you that a decent set of soft jaws would take the worry out of the equation……🙏🏻

[@Triicks111]

can any reputable machine shop face an exhaust manifold flange? i have a turbo manifold with warped flanges and need them facing flat to seal to the head and turbo. Will a normal machine shop do this work ?

[@JOMaMa..]

Barum engines integrity and craftsmanship really shows in the videos.the high quality product is quite refreshing in these times of people not giving a shit in their professions

[@JOMaMa..]

@@modelsteamers671 true modern people are so humble and grateful with zero sense of entitlement..WTF was I thinking

[@GARDENER42]

@@modelsteamers671 From what I've seen, they get very few & of those, a significant number are nothing to do with the work they've done.

[@stephenscholes4758]

@@modelsteamers671 unless you're there and know the workload, how would you know what constitutes "a lot of complaints"?

[@jaredkennedy6576]

Lol at the face right after "I'm going to be a married man". From the sounds of things, this is just the paperwork on the relationship, so it really shouldn't make a difference.

[@bondisteve3617]

Champion!

[@bananabrooks3836]

"Answer the phone Neil"

[@timothyrients1685]

Congratulations on the nuptials. Enjoy your lives together. If allowed, sale of the "abandoned" engines might pose an incentive also.

[@steve0680657]

Start charging after 10 days. Offer people a 10 day window to collect, then charge £50 per week.

[@philtucker1224]

It’s possible the head was emergency welded/repaired still assembled therefore skimming at that point was not an option…pretty weird though🤔?

[@michaellegg9381]

If ya don't want to make more money from the storage but need the customer to pick up the motor asap then put in the contract that full payment and pickup has to be done within 3 months of the work being completed or they forfeit the ownership of the motor.. that way ppl will have to pay the bill and take possession of the motor within 12 week's..

[@JelMain]

Tell them if they don't pick up, you'll ship it at their expense!

[@tomashton1781]

Ive been told that pistons are a hair oval to account for heat expansion, I would think the piston would wobble a hair on the lathe.

[@oldschool1993]

Surprised you don't have a set of soft jaws for your lathe chuck. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, you will soon be a 50% owner of all your possessions.

[@ralfie8801]

More like a 5% owner - She’ll get the gold mine, he’ll get the shaft! 😂😂

[@barumman]

My mate says he has been unlucky in love, the first wife left him and the second wife stayed. I've been married fifty five years and am getting used to it.

[@jeffheld3971]

Congrats on the marriage.

[@TamTran-vw7zm]

While I've noted you have solicited comment on many things, you've shown great intelligence to refrain from doing so when it comes to marriage. Good move. I wish you all the best.

[@tymcclengineering8672]

I can tell you haven't done a Twincam before as you can't fit the ARP head bolts with the front timing chain slider in place as the head won't go down straight.

[@martinriley3202]

What cam would you use on a 69 tr6 US

[@missogyny4921]

In a marriage you have someone alongside you to share in all of those problems which you wouldn’t have if you weren’t married.

[@recoilrob324]

They say that 50% of marriages don't last...so my failed one makes your odds that much higher! Best wishes and be SURE to sign that pre-nup!

[@stephencrabb5123]

Make a video of your stag night

[@MissionaryForMexico]

The front of engine should have been welded up, and re surfaced to remove the discrepancy! That is how a machinist would remedy that issue, before assembly!