Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Time will take its toil. I mean, what lasts more than 10 years on a Lotus? Thinking I had solved the dreaded oil cap mist leak, last weekend I found oil seeping from around the cap. Oh, the embarrassment when I opened the hood at a Cars & Coffee. Rummaging through "never throw anything away" bin, I found a piece of wet suit rubber that is a bit thicker than what I had cobbled up previously. Spongier than what it was replacing, making it much harder to twist the cap closed, hopefully it may stop the dreaded leak. Years ago, I had picked up a cut off piece of the material at a dive shop, can't remember why, but it must have been important at the time. Yea, I know, wet suit rubber is not an off the shelf (floor?) item in some areas. But it may help the cars near our coasts and in OZ. A bit of trimming with a pair of scissors and a razor knife, I had a reasonable facsimile of the old gasket. I think/hope it is of the closed cell foam variety. If it works and only lasts 10 years, it will then become my grandson's problem.

If it wasnt closed cell you would have to dump your weight belt (and hope) to return to the surface.

for what it's worth, one can source nitrile foam or rubber of all sorts now - should be a tad more impervious or durable than neoprene to the news compounds one find in fuel or oil these days...