Still digging about in the weeds..

[JonB]

Having pulled engine and box, I am looking at the nose cone which needs a bit of a tidy up. I've fixed the loose headlight actuating mechanism and am preparing to reassemble the radiator and fan. But I noticed lots of rust on the steering rack, so unbolted it and sand blasted the special brackets, using the Lidl compressor / sand blaster that was on offer last week.

After a coat of primer

I'm quite impressed with the finish. Of course we cannot stop there as there is quite a bit of rust to deal with in the nose cone. Principally brackets, the fan, etc. So...

Fan primed

Fan support bracket primed

Steering rack painted in situ

Other side of the rack

Bit of primer on the Spyder chassis

The Spyder chassis is early and I asked them what sort of paint they use. A 2-pack epoxy in Ford Sunburst Red. However I went to Halfrauds and found that Ford Carnival Red is a better match (more orangey) so I grabbed some of it. Sure enough, it is close. I think Spyder must be using a redder paint these days as their web site shows a very red looking chassis, rather than mine which as I said is quite orange.

Water bottle brackets and fan housing

Might be better in gloss black..

Of course, none of this is done to perfection. I'm not after a concours result, just a usable car that is going to last. It'll look smart enough, if anyone fancies crawling underneath!

[JonB]

So, sprayed the steering column brackets gloss black and put some Carnival Red on the chassis cross member. Looks pretty mediocre and there was a bit of over spray. Meh, it's invisible. The main point is it has some rust protection. I also sprayed the spacers as they were a bit rusty, and went over the motor housing, bottle holders and motor mount in gloss black. It all looks a bit cr@p if I'm honest.

Yech! But at least it's invisible once the car is back together, and besides I'd rather have a bit of over spray than rust.

The fan blade didn't go well at all. The Carnival Red paint was very runny and matt as it turned out. Obviously in need of a bit of clear coat, which I have in the garage. The first tin had lost its pressure and got chucked in the bin. The second tin's valve jammed open and I got paint everywhere. What a clusterf**k. I managed to slop some on the fan and - predictably enough - it looks utterly rubbish.

Should've gone to Specsavers...

I think the fan is supposed to be yellow. A bright colour for safety purposes. Hmm. Still, what I said about the other bits applies here. Not pretty, but no rust. The parts are preserved so if I decide to do it properly in future, I can. And you might well say, "Why not do it properly now?". Because I want the car on the road, of course. At least for now!

Next time I will use Hammerite spray paint. Much easier to use and gives a better result.

[Spyder fan]

Why is your fan metal?

My earlier +2S had an original Kenlowe thermostatic unit with plastic bladed fan. Seems like a backward step to go metal, but I suppose that?s Lotus for you.

I?m with you on the rustproofing and tidying up of things that you normally don?t see, I spent a happy few hours refurbing my rear wishbones and driveshafts on the S4 recently.

[pharriso]

Why is your fan metal?.

+2/130s & Sprints had a more powerful electric cooling fan motor & metal blade, it can draw blood - ask me how I know!

[Spyder fan]

Why is your fan metal?.

+2/130s & Sprints had a more powerful electric cooling fan motor & metal blade, it can draw blood - ask me how I know!

Ouch!

[JonB]

Hence the bright colour, one assumes...



Of course, you know this digging about in the weeds is totally peripheral to the main show, which is doing the oil seals on the engine. To which end, I drove along the coast to see Miles Wilkins and score some gasketery. Really glad he is still running his parts business.

Hey Alan, are you saying your painting efforts are as bad as mine? Surely not!

[vincereynard]

I have some nice yellow paint!

Is it worth the effort? What's the price of a replacement rad fan?

[JonB]

An original fan like mine? Not on sale (Matty or SJS); maybe others stock it. If so, likely to be expensive. It could be argued that I'd be better off with a modern fan but I've not had any overheating issues with the standard setup and I drove the car along the M25 in stop / start traffic when I visited you, and that was a hot day. I saw the temperature creep up a little but it soon recovered once things started moving.

[Spyder fan]

Hence the bright colour, one assumes...





Hey Alan, are you saying your painting efforts are as bad as mine? Surely not!

Hopefully not! My +2 is an example of my painting

[JonB]

Welll mate, you can visit!

Meanwhile, I?ve had enough for now.

Good enough, I suppose.

Time to tidy the nasty wiring.

[Spyder fan]

I know the feeling on having enough of painting and prettifying.

The secret is to do enough so that it doesn't offend the eye, and that rust and decay are halted (until the next time)

[JonB]

Yep, so for an encore I pulled the heater box out and fixed the case ground and put some neoprene on the underside (as I do not like the soundproofing material, which is pretty nasty after 47 years). Trial fitted the shoddily painted radiator and fan, surprisingly it looks ok. Oh, also glassed in some new outer dash support tabs as mine had broken off. Getting closer to fitting that new dash...

[JonB]

Finishing the radiator and fan off..

Extended wiring

Front of the rad, fins painted matte black

Back of the rad, fins painted matte black

I am adding some fused relays, too - horn, cooling fan, spot lights - and moving the headlight relays out of the nose cone. Hopefully I can put them all where the horn relay resides as they are smaller and the solenoid valve is relocated.