What did you do to your Lotus today...

[mark030358]

Chased vacuum leaks and had an impromptu gathering (never done that before)

Interesting how they get fatter over time

[reb53]

Made, and fitted, a new leather gear lever boot.
Last one only lasted 25 years.....

Ralph.

[mark030358]

Hi all,
Continued to chase a poor vacuum. The chassis will hold vacuum for days, so thats not the issue. So I replaced all the connections on the pods and added some spring clips over the rubber, each pod held vacuum for ages individually so fingers crossed....

cheers
Mark

[JonB]

Made, and fitted, a new leather gear lever boot.
Last one only lasted 25 years.....

Ralph.

That looks like an Esprit part.. Nice job!

[JohnMorin]

Drove it for the first time since 1982

[pharriso]

Drove it for the first time since 1982

Wow! 42 years - that's quite a gap, tell us more!

[JohnMorin]

It's a S4 in yellow now with big valve engine and Dellortos intsead of the original Strombergs.

I took ownership of it on 19th July 1978. After fixing quite a few niggling problems and rebuilding the gearbox, it had just been overhauled but whoever did it didn't knock the washer over on the end of the main shaft allowing the retaining nut to come loose and the shaft to move backwards and forwards giving me just first and fourth gears, interesting on the 60 mile drive I had to do to get home, especially as the headlamp relays failed at the same time so every time I slowed down the lights went out, the fore aft movement of the main shaft caused the synchro rings to wear so I had to replace those.

In 1982 I found a hole in the nearside front chassis upright - and we all know what that means. It was about that time that Spyder starting producing their replacement chassis, so I bought one of their stressed skin chassis and proceeded to dismantle the car. I got the body back on about 2 years later and then came children.

Working 60 hour weeks and bringing up two children meant the car had to take second place. Kids grew up but the long working hours continued leaving me just the weekends to deal with all things domestic but not the car.

Then came retirement in 2016 and the opportunity to get going again on the car, but after all that time I had to do it all over again. Finally got to a stage where I could legally drive it on the road on 10th September 2024. Still lots to do, mostly cosmetic but I'm still going to drive it.

John

[MACCA.GLM]

That's a great pic of the 3 cars but Grandad still has the vote.
Just one thing are the wheels minilites or a repro.They look great on Grandad and wouldn't mind a set on my old chap
Regards
G

[JohnMorin]

I made a bracket to stop the Otter switch popping out.

[512BB]

Drove in convoy to Malcolm Ricketts open day with some friends yesterday. One of the best events I have attended this year, huge turnout. There were many people taking pictures, hopefully some will appear here.

I chatted to the gentleman who owned the Big Valve powered Gold Leaf single seater that was parked on the lawn. Lovely chap, can't remember his name. We reminised about how the event used to be held on a Wednesday evening in the summer. I used to close my business early that day to attend. About 30 years ago.

The day was somewhat marred by the fact that Malcolm was not present, as he is unwell at the moment. Get well soon my friend.

Leslie

[Donels]

Fitted my rechromed bumper to the ongoing rebuild, adding to the new rear lights fitted last week.

[MACCA.GLM]

Hi John

Where did you get your otter switch from with the plug connector

Regards

G

[mark030358]

That's a great pic of the 3 cars but Grandad still has the vote.
Just one thing are the wheels minilites or a repro.They look great on Grandad and wouldn't mind a set on my old chap
Regards
G

They were advertised many years ago as minilites.

thanks
Mark

[alan.barker]

That's a great pic of the 3 cars but Grandad still has the vote.
Just one thing are the wheels minilites or a repro.They look great on Grandad and wouldn't mind a set on my old chap
Regards
G

They were advertised many years ago as minilites.

thanks
Mark

They look the same as ma Sprint except i've fitted the big centre nut, easier to tighten no risk of damage.
Alan

[MACCA.GLM]

They look good Alan
I also like the plus 2 alloys but getting hold of those is difficult
I know Tony Thompson does a minilite look alike for around £250 a corner bit pricy for me
Regards
G