What did you do to your Lotus today...

[mark030358]

Added some Cabon Porn....

[h20hamelan]

found a treasure!

[TBG]

Mark - "Added some Cabon Porn...."

There is certainly lots in the exhaust pipe!!

[Quart Meg Miles]

Driving home out in the country there was a slight clatter under the car and I found the transverse silencer was scraping the ground in the centre of the car. I appear to have neglected to add a washer under the nut holding the silencer outlet to its rubber hanger and it had pulled through it and dropped the box leaving it hanging from it's end support.

I found a 'penny' washer with a 5/16" hole in my tool box and had it all back running in 15 minutes.

[rgh0]

Stripped my spare race engine down to component parts for a full rebuild to my current premium unleaded specification as can no longer use Avgas and I need to machine a little of the tops of the pistons to drop its compression ratio

My son did it, having previously never pulled an engine apart in his life, with a little guidance from me in 4 hours. Could have been quicker but spent a bit of time showing him the differences between standard and race engine components as it came apart.

The clean, detailed inspection and measuring, chasing new parts and rebuild will take a little longer but nothing really needed on initial inspection except for a new set of crank and rod bearings

cheers
Rohan

[moxog5]

Had a drive to Chirnside in my elan to put flowers on Jim Clarks grave.

[persiflage]

Removed and cleaned both door locks, what a difference.
I recall the last time I worked on these locks the rods and clips seemed impossible to connect and resulted in frustration and grazed skin. This time it all seemed so simple ... perhaps my hands have shrunk with the onset of old age.

[NedK]

Rebuilt and rewired front indicators. https://photos.app.goo.gl/KBppnNJacZy9Ha5X6

A few modifications:
- a new gasket made from 3mm neoprene https://photos.app.goo.gl/YZS2NYxsij52Y2nn6
- New clear lenses from Paul Matty
- New bulb holders and wiring, then terminated in Superseal connectors
- LED bulbs from Classic Car LEDs (very helpful and quick)

A tip if you're replacing bulb holders: you need to peen over the rim, so it clamps the reflector disc thingy to the main body. This is fiddly, but much easier if you place a (deep) socket under the bulb holder, so when you tap the rim with a hammer/drift, it stays put. https://photos.app.goo.gl/3VoicCeh1ni8C5rs5

The Mazak was pretty bad, but with a lot of Autosol the chrome looks acceptable. I think I may paint the back with epoxy primer anyway, as it's out of sight, to be safe. The tiny pits in the Mazak/chrome will possibly be filled by a pinprick of transparent epoxy resin. I'll practise on a spare and see what happens...

Ned

[0005K]

I installed Speed Bleeders on all 4 corners and on the clutch slave cylinder. I still made a mess, but it was quite simple and straightforward to do by myself! They seem to be a good quality product.
0005K Dick

[1owner69Elan]

Drove Sunday morning to join the “Breakfast Club Rally” (BCR)for a couple hours drive through Sonoma back roads with a variety of other vintage cars. The drive to the meeting point of about an hour went fine although a bit chilly with the top down.

I had just put the Elan back together after an engine out to fix a hydraulic leak in the concentric slave cylinder. As a result I had not put but a few miles on the car to shake out any bugs. Coolant hoses had been leaking but thought I had cured those.

Got to the meeting point and was lining up to start the rally when I noticed my temperature gauge had gone well over 100. Pulled over to check on things. Suspected perhaps coolant loss. Car too hot to open the coolant fill. Thought I would let cool down which I did and then check coolant. Coolant level was ok but I also found that the leads to the fan otter switch were disconnected- so no fan. Problem solved I thought.

But now the car wouldn’t start. No ignition light. Strange behavior: fuel pump would start with ignition on and then not shut off with ignition off until I opened the door. At this point, and having no tools with me I decided to take advantage of the BCR free towing service offered through Hagerty (insurance) to all Rally participants. A flatbed showed up in short order and transported me and the car home, about 50 miles at no charge. Luckily I had broken down early in the rally as the towing services were inundated with emergency calls from other drivers resulting in several hours wait.

From past experience of strange electrical behavior I figured that a faulty ground (earth) was probably to blame for my problems. Sure enough the ground point in the trunk (boot) was not fully tight. A consequence of me recently rerouting of the wires for the fuel pump and Bluetooth radio in the boot.

So all fixed for the moment.

I am going to implement a different fan temperature switch in a different location. I have an extra large TTR radiator and the fan switch interferes with lip of the bonnet when open and the spade lugs consistently get knocked off - so no fan.

Actually after yesterday’s trials and sorting out the causes I am more confident than ever in my car’s future reliability. Up to now after an extensive restoration it had never let me down. The recent failure easily explained and resolved.

[h20hamelan]

Drove Sunday morning to join the “Breakfast Club Rally” (BCR)for a couple hours drive through Sonoma back roads with a variety of other vintage cars. The drive to the meeting point of about an hour went fine although a bit chilly with the top down.

I had just put the Elan back together after an engine out to fix a hydraulic leak in the concentric slave cylinder. As a result I had not put but a few miles on the car to shake out any bugs. Coolant hoses had been leaking but thought I had cured those.

Got to the meeting point and was lining up to start the rally when I noticed my temperature gauge had gone well over 100. Pulled over to check on things. Suspected perhaps coolant loss. Car too hot to open the coolant fill. Tho .

I bet audible and visual warning of low oil and coolant, temp and pressure etc would be well worth it.
A few of my vehicles have warning lights, I figure I wouldn’t notice. So sound?

[Pjr]

I had my first go ever at painting the block and cam cover. Cam cover might need a second try, but it looks ok. Lots of detailing still to do!

[Mazzini]

Looks good

The mating surfaces for the inlet, exhaust, oil pump, distributor clamp face are best left paint free.

The heater take off looks like it's from a Cortina, but I think you mentioned that you're going down a different route.

[TBG]

1owner69 - very sorry to hear of your troubles. For what it is worth I have a REVOTEC electronic controller in the top hose and it works excellently. Out of the way of everything also. Available from all the usual suspects this side of the pond. D

[Pjr]

Thanks - the inlet and fuel pump faces are unpainted and I was planning to clean back the exhaust ones. When I was painting it was difficult to be neat and tidy so I just painted it all and then thought I could strip it back to a heater edge. We will see if it works.

The heater outlet was as it came with the engine. I haven’t given that any thought but will look into that now. I have some different ones here.

Many thanks,

Phil