It's getting cold out here

[simonknee]

And that's no fun when waiting for the recovery truck.

Brought to a standstill by a bloody distributor cap arcing ht everywhere but the spark plugs... And I've had faulty caps before but am I carrying a spare. Am I ****

[Stevie-Heathie]

Sorry to hear that Simon!

I'm taking the wife out for lunch today in the Surrey Hills the new Elan - it will be her first trip in it and it is mission critical. If she has fun and enjoys herself then I can look forward to may years of happy garage tinkering and fun days out. If we have a mechanical or something then all bets are off for long term ownership .

You are right it's chilly in the UK today. Winter sunshine, country roads (and pubs!) with the top down - should be a cracker.

Hope you got home safely last night

S

[simonknee]

Got home by 1am so could have been worse. What's more I broke down by a parking space in central London and an old fashioned electrical diy shop. Promptly purchased a ?12 digital multimeter so I could check volts and the coil. The chap in the shop even gave me a free PP9 battery for the meter and a couple of pairs of latex gloves. So I can heartily recommend Blakes of Victoria if you happen to be passing.

I at least felt a bit better that the AA man came to the same conclusion as me. He was able to see the small electrical storm in the dizzy cap whilst I cranked the engine. Hilariously it meant you only got a spark at the plugs when the cap was OFF the distributor. When I assume the HT was immediately grounding itself to the metal body.

To get the car onto the trailer the next AA guy attached his winch ropes to both wishbones - I knew that the two tempting "eyes" are a no-no as that is the support for the steering rack. I have tubular wishbones (Spyder) so was not too concerned about this unusual load. The bushes seemed to take the strain OK. After all the Elan is light and the incline was not great. However are there any better places to pull a Lotus by? (This was just to get it onto the truck NOT to tow it BTW)

[billwill]

I think I would try a rope tied at both ends to the crossmember, near the uprights, forming a V.

Trouble is, when standing around cold & wet, one forgets to tell the recovery man that.

[MartinH]

Simon if you need parts try this guy. I had real problems with badly made rotor arms and got an excellent replacement from him. I have no link to his business

http://www.distributordoctor.com

Good luck
Martin

[612kiwi3333]

I am more curious as to how Stevie s lunch date went.

Mike
70 +2

[Stevie-Heathie]

Pleased to report a most successful day!

One of those cold frosty days with blue sky and no wind. The Elan behaved immaculately (touching wood as I type ) we drove for an hour each way on windy interesting B roads with the roof down, the boss didn't get too cold and we were able to park right outside Kinghams in Shere for a fantastic lunch. We got the table right in front of the open fire so could thaw out in style.

Lots of compliments from other diners when they worked out who the "pretty Lotus" belonged too.

So - mission accomplished, an unqualified success!

[612kiwi3333]

[wobblyweb]

Talk about recovery trucks !!!

[simonknee]

Snap.

Exactly what it looked like for me just a different back drop. Bit ridiculous when it's just the dizzy cap but there you go. The chap with the truck says he only does exotics and olds - had just done a new porker before he came to me. Basically things you can't tow on a stick - rope towing is illegal now apparently!

Received two new caps and a rotor from Aldon (I run their 103TC dizzy which is based on a 45D4)and it needed the replacement rotor too before it would fire. Put the pertronix back in and did a quick timing adjustment. Runs like a champ once more.

[pharriso]

Looks pretty, even on the back of a breakdown Lorry!

[billwill]

It does not seem that rope towing is illegal.

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q558.htm

When the vehicles are attached solely by a rope or chain, the maximum distance allowed between the vehicles is 4.5 metres.

If the distance between the two vehicles exceeds 1.5 metres then the rope or chain must be made clearly visible within a reasonable distance from either side to other road users. This is usually done by tying a coloured flapping cloth in the middle of the rope or chain.

The person in the broken down vehicle must be a qualified driver as he is actually driving it. A further point is that if it is dark then the broken down vehicle must have its lights on as it would under normal circumstances.

[rcraven]

My father was once towing me and despite having a sign "On Tow" at the rear of my car and it being pretty obvious anyway, someone overtook me and tried to cut in between us!

[wobblyweb]

Not a good road for me, The Elan donut gave up. First time it has happened in 30 years, I keep a close look at them too. The car had just been MOT tested and driven 2 miles from the garage when it happened.
Driving along the same road in my everyday car last week I hit a deer. Made a bit of a mess of the wing.... didn't do the deer much good either.