[loki]

Taking the advice of a wise older race driver, I slowly modified my 2005 Elise, starting with tires, suspension and weight loss. After three years of track driving I decided to finally add power. Dropped in the Katana SC from Sector 111, loved the speed and torque, forgot that the car is a unit and one thing does not exist without influencing the whole.
First unintended consequence: Relocating the alternator a little closer to the firewall and not changing the motor mounts from stock caused it to slam the firewall with the extra torque the Katana put on the engine and caused it to fail. Welcome to wiring and Lotus parts hell.
( See http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f129/alternator-harness-schematic-55155/ ) And CharlieX note that they had fried alternators during SC development as they are prone to fail with the increased heat.
Second: The increased torque overstressed the exhaust system and caused it to fail and the hot gasses caught the tail on fire (in fact two SC Lotus caught fire the same way in one track day!)
See http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f154/warning-track-guys-check-your-exaust-systems-58233/
Thirdly: The increased movement of the engine caused the oftimes difficult shift to and from third gear to become realy problematic and increased the missed shift problems.
After much time, down time and money I have finally paid attention to what I should have in the beginning. I replaced the engine mounts with much stiffer urethane mounts and the shifter with the LETSLA. Hopefully all this will get me to the track for the first time this year!
So, a word to the wise-think about the unintended consequences each time you change what Lotus gave you and realize it's a unit not a part you are changing.:wallbang:

 

[ZAMMY1]

very true, the car is a combination of compromises. any car...
good luck on the coming season.
sam

 

[fpitas]

Taking the advice of a wise older race driver, I slowly modified my 2005 Elise, starting with tires, suspension and weight loss. After three years of track driving I decided to finally add power. Dropped in the Katana SC from Sector 111, loved the speed and torque, forgot that the car is a unit and one thing does not exist without influencing the whole.
First unintended consequence: Relocating the alternator a little closer to the firewall and not changing the motor mounts from stock caused it to slam the firewall with the extra torque the Katana put on the engine and caused it to fail. Welcome to wiring and Lotus parts hell.
( See http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f129/alternator-harness-schematic-55155/ ) And CharlieX note that they had fried alternators during SC development as they are prone to fail with the increased heat.
Second: The increased torque overstressed the exhaust system and caused it to fail and the hot gasses caught the tail on fire (in fact two SC Lotus caught fire the same way in one track day!)
See http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f154/warning-track-guys-check-your-exaust-systems-58233/
Thirdly: The increased movement of the engine caused the oftimes difficult shift to and from third gear to become realy problematic and increased the missed shift problems.
After much time, down time and money I have finally paid attention to what I should have in the beginning. I replaced the engine mounts with much stiffer urethane mounts and the shifter with the LETSLA. Hopefully all this will get me to the track for the first time this year!
So, a word to the wise-think about the unintended consequences each time you change what Lotus gave you and realize it's a unit not a part you are changing.:wallbang:

Everything you said is true, but I found the motor mounts unacceptable even when my car was stock. I could feel the motor flopping around just driving enthusiastically on winding roads. The shift gate, especially to 3rd gear, would move around like crazy. That, and the motor slammed the firewall when I'd shift.

 

[Jim-C]

Good info. I filled my mounts with urethane. The engine still hit the fuse boxes on my 2005 Elise firewall. The impact shorted a circuit inside the "engine control module" . It was real fun trying to find that problem.

 

[loki]

Good info. I filled my mounts with urethane. The engine still hit the fuse boxes on my 2005 Elise firewall. The impact shorted a circuit inside the "engine control module" . It was real fun trying to find that problem.

Ah yes, should have added a "Four". My ECM got bumped and it just loosened one side clip enough to throw 5 confusing engine fault codes on the OBD2. Had to go through every wiring connector to find the problem. Good thing I have nothing else to do but play with the Lotus...not.

 

[plastique999]

Welcome.....to mod hell.....

I have experienced #1 alternator wires fried and stranded over 100 miles from home - not fun.

 

[charliex]

unfortunately there's no good way to convey the info to everyone, this list has been around for 3+ years now, as we found out the same hard way during the couple of years development into it.

alternator heat shield, engine mounts, fuel starvation, oil starvation or very importantly oil level checking as the FI cars use a lot more, catch cans and emptying them, exhaust checking (this is true for any of the cars FI or NA ), cat cracking, etc, don't change pulley sizes, dont change the throttle body size, don't swap injectors to a different make (compatibility extends beyond "does it fit" ) or a larger cc rating ( I still can't believe people do this one ), don't change the airbox to a cupbox, don't change the intercooler type unless you're sure of how it'll change the operating parameters, don't change spark plug types from the recommended unless they're been proven, don't assume the stock part is lesser than an aftermaket (especially cats).

i saw at least three cars at the track over the weekend with leaking exhausts, the stock lotus clamps are not meant to be reused, and they need to be checked frequently for movement, i also saw a number of cars misfiring and running lean due to certain other mods.

we always try to post the infomation up, even though it gets a lot of griefing and arguing, but at least then you get to see a couple of sides, i know you'll see some vendors say the alternator wiring or regulator never fries, but i've seen it happen more than once.

but the good news is the people without issues fair outweigh the ones with, i try to keep in touch and an eye on all the kits i've worked on and get feedback.

obviously the don'ts can be made to work, just know what you're getting into, almost everything will effect a change, if it doesn't, then not much doing it in the first place. Its not going to hurt the car checking it on a dyno after a mod you're not sure about, but do make sure the wideband sensor is a new one and calibrated, that the gear is known and that you're picking up the reading near the primary O2 sensor via a bung and not at the exhaust tip and don't expect it to stay the same after a week or running vs just installed, check it again, if something looks odd, just ask.

 

[jallingt]

Sounds familar,
I installed S/C....
Installed cooler plugs at that time.
Then filled my motor mounts with 80d ureathane, based on suggestions
Repaired some alternator wiring.
I find I need to clean my MAF at every oil change.
I have a quicksilver exhaust, I keep an eye on the clamps.