What did you do to your Lotus today...

[reb53]

"Repaired" the starter motor.
Been a bit sluggish of late, and finally gave up.
When pulled apart brushes well worn.
As I need the car in a few days I wanted a quick fix so I made up some brass shims to go under the brushes so they'll stick out further.
Worked !
Looking for new ones, for the future, ( probably about 10 years.....), I see the replacements are rectangular section whereas the ones I "improved" were more triangular, like a pyramid with the top cut off.
Anyone have a number for this type ?

Cheers,
Ralph.

[mark030358]

Hi folks,
Well no pictures as I forgot, but today I fitted a pair of those light weight window motor kits as sold on here by one of our Americal cousins.

Speed is a little faster and there is no hesitation when the switch flicked. However the best part of this was the stopping of the old heavy motors moving about inside the door. Typically on a bumpy track the motors would hit the frame of the door, all that has gone now

The downside is ny passengerside door rods rattle, I guess a piece of sound insulation has come off, so need to take the trim panel off

As far as upgrades go this is a good one and I recommend it.

cheers
Mark

[richardcox_lotus]

Yesterday, servicing of oil and filter, cleaned air filter, checked compression. Today, got underneath it to top up gearbox oil, check diff levels, lubricate handbrake mechanism, lubricate trunnions, and grease propshaft uj. And tightened up loose exhaust hanger.

Regards
Richard

[jonnyg]

Replaced the windscreen washer pump which had packed up with a new one, and cleaned out the Tudor washer bottle. New pump is much livelier than I remember the old one (never really used it much) so adjusted the jets accordingly. Treated the car to two new wiper blades at the same time. Big improvement all round.

[reb53]

Put some new brushes into the starter motor rather than rely on my previous "repair" of shimming out the old ones.
Mind you, the repair was working fine.
Needing to remove the armature for better soldering access obviously upset things as a few days later the starter remained engaged and the motor started to turn at, as Clarkson would say, " eleventy zillion revs".
It jammed the pinion so comprehensively that the large spring was so compressed the circlip couldn't be undone, and some careful angle grinder surgery was required to remove the pinion.

[mark030358]

If you know, you know...

Fitted an original, still full, period air freshener. Fluid still in the plastic ball, although the colour has faded..

cheers
Mark

[JonB]

You can still buy Feu Orange. I’m forbidden from having it because the Mrs hates the smell.

[Edit: it’s not available any more, what a shame!]

[mark030358]

You can still buy Feu Orange. I’m forbidden from having it because the Mrs hates the smell.

[Edit: it’s not available any more, what a shame!]

Used to hang one off the heater knob on a TR6 I had back in the 70's..... cool or whar

[h20hamelan]

Fantastic run in the Valley of the Ghosts again today

!

[shynsy]

Almost ready for engine and gearbox removal.
Tim

[rgh0]

Fitted an outside mirror to the LH passenger door. I bought the mirror a couple of years ago to match the mirror on my drivers side to give better visibility on the LH side when racing. I have raced for 40 years without it but with the increasing number of big engined fast cars in my racing group and me getting slower I finally decided to bit the bullet and tackle fitting it.

Dismantlingthe door and removing the window frame to access the the inside so I could bolt the door mirror in place is never fun. At least I had put antisieze on the bolts and screws in 1980 when I last had this door apart so it came apart relatively easily

I had to shorten the mirror mounting bolt so it cleared the glass adequately which then made getting a nut on it inside the door a challenge but finally done, You will note in the photo I cut a access hole in the door front edge to aid the whole process and to enable the mirror mounting to be retightened if needed without removing the window frame again. Just need to put the wndown frame and locks back on. The biggest challenge will be getting the rod lock clips attached again which I remember from 1980 as not being much fun either .

The day before i fitted new front disks, pads and bearings and crack tested the stub axles.
No cracks in the stub axles found with the die penetrant testing

New disks and Hawk blue competition pads

cheers
Rohan

[reb53]

Did the tappets.
Attached photo of my dodgy way of getting the sprockets out of the way whilst maintaining tension on the chain.
Also photo of camshaft end.
Being a "Sprint" expect 2 rings but these 2 don't look like any other pictures I've seen so I do wonder.
Can imagine someone in the factory saying " Mr Chapman, we've run short of D type cams for the new Big Valve engines".
"Good grief man, do I have to do everything ? Just chuck some C types up in a lathe and stick some grooves in them".

Tried numerous times to change the orientation of the photo but it comes right if you click on it.

Ralph.