What did you do to your Lotus today...

[john.p.clegg]

Did you fix a bodge? Add a new accessory? Take it out for a drive?
What did YOU do to your Lotus today?

Post your update below......

John

[wotsisname]

John,
I drove the Elise to work... with that view , everyday feels like a day at Le Mans

Last night.. I fitted the window switches to my dash (repairing one first), swapped an old toggle over to a new switch and then fitted same switch (lights), Started to run the loom across the back of the dash and tried to follow the wiring diagram [I suspect this is what caused me to have a sleepless night]

Adrian

[JohnCh]

I'm currently in the process of fixing a few issues with my new to me S4 FHC. The inoperable driver's window assembly was removed and new parts were ordered, the sag was adjusted out of that door and outside door handle was tightened, attempted to replace the worn flexible coupling between the steering column and rack with a U-joint, but it was enough out of tolerance that the lower bolt simply will not fit (better made unit is on order from a different vendor) tightened the rearview mirror so it now stays in place, replaced the missing handbrake button with a used item, tried to get the handbrake to work but only partially succeeded (pads need relining), installed LED brake lights, tracked down the source of a rattle in the boot, ordered a new steering wheel, and spent way too much time digging through old posts on this forum to learn how to do all this stuff.

And although not a Lotus, I drove the snot out of my Westfield given it was a beautiful weekend and the Elan was stuck on the lift.

-John

[elj221c]

I took of the off side front wheel to take a photo of the drop link for Zog's Droplink Dilema thread.

As usual I seem to have halted another thread.....

[Keith Scarfe]

>And although not a Lotus, I drove the snot out of my Westfield
Ha ha funny. I too have a Westfield and an Elan but mine are the other way round to yours. The Westfield is up in the air on stands waiting to be rebuilt and the Elan is my driver for snotting around in (as you put it).

[Fred Talmadge]

Well indirectly, I'm starting to work on tearing down a wall in my one car garage. This will allow me to keep both the Lotus and my normal car inside during the winter. Currently I keep the Lotus at my brother's house which is about 3 hours away. I'm also sure he has taken out now and then for drives.

[Concrete-crusher]

Decided to not carry the spare wheel anymore and use the space to store the many tools I carry just in case they are needed

Plus a 12v compressor and bottle of tyre seal stuff

Weight about the same as the spare wheel , without weighing the back down too much

Steve

[stovekjj]

just did my daily commute in my 67 S3 dhc..
5 miles to but about 15 going home,
80 F and sunny in san diego.

[Mick6186]

Started to remove the cylinder head to find the cause of a massive sudden oil leak under the carbs that I was sure was from the head gasket. Removed the carbs, removed the cam cover. Tried to remove the exhaust manifold. No go. Had a brainwave and tried one more thing. Cleaned up the area and spun the engine over for 30 seconds. No sign of the source of the leak. I then poured some oil down the hole for the head to block drain. (I had already had a feel around the rubber tube and it seemed OK). Looked under the car and eureka a pool of oil. Removed the starter motor and fuel pump. Removed the rubber tube and found a large split.
Fishing tomorrow so rebuild will be postponed until the weekend.
Mick

[tedtaylor]

just FYI, there's NO need to remove head to replace that rubber tube.
Mine also self destructed suddenly with oil everywhere. I replaced it in situ with all other components in place. the trick is shaving a smidge off the top, using pointy nose vise grips to squeeze the middle together, insert the bottom in place (using silicone sealer of course) then sort of fold it over itself to bring the top into place (again, using silicone sealer). Worked perfectly and no other leaks since.
good luck!

[elanner]

I actually did something that was constructive, straightforward, and worked. A rare day indeed! And the weather was perfect too.

I changed the front suspension top ball joint on the passenger side to remove some play that's been there for a year or three. Whoop-de-doo. Just three bolts.

Issues:
- Personally, I find it hard to detect if the play is the upright ball joint, the tie rod ball joint, the wheel bearings or the trunnion. I know it should be obvious, but somehow it isn't. Especially if there's a tiny bit of end float in the bearings, which there is in mine. Anyway, I decided on the top ball joint because it's the usual suspect.
- The nut on the taper decided it wasn't going to come off, so had to be cut off with a Dremel. It must have been there for at least a decade. Next time I'll remember to completely remove the nut before breaking the taper. (My new ball joint separator - not a pickle type - worked really well.)
- Is it possible to get a torque wrench on the taper nut? I could find no combination of 3/8" drive widgets that would work.

While doing this I also looked at my anti-roll bar drop links (per Zog's problem) and they drop vertically. Zog wondered if the uprights could be on the wrong side, and clearly that's not possible (the brake caliper and track rod would complain).

Then I washed it and took it for a good drive.

Nick

[draenog]

Well, today must be the crappiest since owning my +2 (5 years this month). Was going to take it out for a drive, as I had the day off from work. First thing I did was get under the car to have a look at the drip tray to see how much oil had leaked in the 2 weeks since I last drove it (the usual couple of drops). As I did so, I had a quick glance at the bottom of the turrets with the torch. Oh ****, that looks like a crack.

Take the wheel off to have a better look, and there's a crack all the way across the turret Prodding with a screwdriver I've enlarged it to quite a big hole. I had a good prod at it a year or so ago, so it's deteriorated badly since then.

The hole is rather difficult to see in the front view as the inside is the same rust colour, but you can see it from the missing welding seam.

To be honest, I'd been expecting this sooner or later, as there had always been something odd about the turrets. Firstly the drain holes are completely blocked. Secondly there were some signs of corrosion but everything was solid when I prodded it firmly.

Now I think I understand. It appears that the bottom inch or so of the turret has been filled with metal (it is metal, not filler as it has turned to rust, and I've chipped large chunks of it away with the screwdriver). This explains the blocked drain holes. Whether this was a previous repair or somebody's idea of strengthening I don't know...

So I've now got to decide what to do. As winter is approaching it would be a perfect opportunity to do a chassis replacement myself, but I simply do not have the room. I only have a single garage with insufficient clearance to remove the body, and the driveway is on a slope Trying to rent somewhere is also out - I've been looking for a second garage in Chepstow for years.

So I'm going to have to pay somebody to do it I tried ringing up Paul Matty today but despite several attempts was unable to be put through to the workshop (I wanted to discuss it with somebody to find out a rough idea of how much it would cost - I think I'm looking at something like ?4000). In the meantime, looking at pictures on their website it looks like their chassis are Spyder Lotus type replacement stress skinned (as they have towing hooks). If that's the case I might as well go to Spyder directly. SJ Sportscars seem to sell non-galvanised LR replacement chassis, but as I said, there's no way I can fit this myself.

More wine is called for - bugger work tomorrow.

[pharriso]

Sorry to hear... Matty also sell genuine LR chassis... saw a couple last time I was there...

[Evante]

I finally got my indicator lights, hazard, and brake lights working after installing a new dash wiring loom on my '72 Federal Sprint.

Yeah! It turns out that the new Lucas indicator flasher relay that I bought only worked with the right-hand indicators but not with the left. After of month of trying to diagnose the problem, ie. connections, wiring, grounds, DB10, etc. repeat, repeat, repeat, I hooked up a modern flasher unit to the system and it worked.

Now on to the windshield washer and reverse lights and the new dash should be all set to install.

JAS

'72 Federal Sprint
2005 CO Elise - Sold
1988 Evante - Sold

[Chrispy]

Just a little bit of minor work

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