Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Swapped out the shift lever for one with a more appropriate length and bend.....

Before:


After:

Spotted 0256K at AutoSport Designs today in Huntington, had to go back with my 0260k to get a picture:

pharriso wrote:Spotted 0256K at AutoSport Designs today in Huntington, had to go back with my 0260k to get a picture:

Who owns 0256K, Phil? I presume it's the yellow Sprint.

Quart Meg Miles wrote:

pharriso wrote:Spotted 0256K at AutoSport Designs today in Huntington, had to go back with my 0260k to get a picture:

Who owns 0256K, Phil? I presume it's the yellow Sprint.

Yes the yellow Sprint, not sure yet... I am in contact with the new owner, I am sure he will introduce himself here before too long.

I went for a drive in my +2 for the first time in a few months. Brakes are much better with the .75" master cylinder. Cooling system is working really well with the re-cored rad and new thermostat. Ignition system seems to be working. No sign of a dead spot in the carbs, although they were out of balance after I'd fitted the air box. It does seem to take off when it hits 6k rpm, which means 7k arrives very quickly. I'm going to have to try to avoid that, but it doesn't seem to run out of power. I think rolling road is calling us...

Regards

Sean.

I started to get to know my new S3 (WAR 540E) a little better and to start to knocking some items of my fast-extending snagging list.

1. Off went some like-new but 15 year old Yokohamas and on went the Michelin XAS FF that are so strongly recommended here


2. I got to inspect the front suspension properly. Very clean under here and previous owner has done a lovely job. But like the tyres the rubber components are showing their age and I guess I need to prepare to switch out all the old bushes etc. I guess the shock absorbers are Avos (please correct me if you know better).



3. Lovely at the back too, with Hooke's jointed drive and adjustable spring bases


4. In the cabin I took the door card off and dismantled the locking mechanism before discovering that the cause of the infuriating self-locking driver's door was that the child-lock mechanism was set

5.I had less success on the passenger side where I failed to work out how to adjust the top nylon door hinge. The access hole by the top adjustment bolts just seems too small to get any sort of socket in there. Even after I had cut lots of different lengths of 1/4" square rod. Any tips?


6. Checking out the ignition. No visible markings but it looks like an Aldon Ignitor I to me. Please let me know if you think I am wrong


7. Last thing. Engine seems to be running very rich, with oily smuts on the rear bodywork (I even found some on the rear view mirror!) and black oiled plugs. Seems like I need a trip to a rolling road and a look at the jets

Air corrector: 130
Emulsion: F16
Main: 125
Idle: 50F6
Pump: 35
Not sure yet what Cams or chokes I have in there.

ps. I'm a newbie here, so please don't be shy to tell me if I'm posting this kind of stuff in the wrong place, or if there is a better way to contribute.

The doors pivot on Nylon threaded plugs, which are dome shaped where they fit into hemispherical sockets at top & bottom of the door aperture {number 3 in diagram below}. There is also a lock-nut which you have to undo first {number 4 in diagram below}, before you can rotate the nylon pivot. The other end of the nylon plug is flat(ish) with a square deep indentation in it; this takes a square rod, I think 1/4 inch but not sure. be sure to get a good fit in there because if you use a square rod that is too small, you may wreck the square indentation and you will then have a REAL PROBLEM to get it out.

It's a while since I did anything to mine, but I seem to recall using a longish square rod and fitting into a ratcheting socket set and then using the BOTTOM aperture in the door to unscrew the upper nylon plug. The lock-nut uses a normal socket to undo it, though you will need extension rods on your socket set to reach it via the bottom aperture.

Both top & bottom holders {number 2 in diagram} for the nylon pivot also have adjusting bolts that hold the fitting for the nylon pivot to the door. DON'T undo those if you can avoid it because they control the 'fit' of the door in the body and it is difficult & tedious to get it right again if you disturb the fit.


House interior door handles seem to have the right-size square rod.

Technically it was Saturday but went on a drive, 265 miles with local lotus owners. I am the only one draft enough to turn up in a classic but I can almost keep up with them.

Thank you @BillWill for your useful advice on tackling door hinges. The tip to attack the top hinge via the bottom access hole looks like what I needed. I was just being lazy and hoping I could do the job without removing the passenger door card, and doing everything via the normally-exposed top access hole. My mistake.

I had previously discovered the many postings about NOT TOUCHING the bolts securing the cast top and bottom holders. It was very tempting, but I managed to resist.

When I stripped down the seats on my S4 a few years ago a 1962 Swiss 5 Rappen coin (very similar to an old sixpence) fell out from between the cushion and the seat back. The seats are now back in the car having been retrimmed. Today I pushed the same coin back into the seat, where hopefully it will remain for another 50 or so years.

Actually, not today, but 2 days ago. Another trip around my favourite roads in Snowdonia.

Fitted replacement sill-members in my Plus 2. I got the stainless ones from SJ. They differ slightly in design to the original items, most notably in their lower edges being straight instead of curved. Those edges do not come with the holes drilled them either, but it was easy enough to make a cardboard template for the holes from the old members. They went in a lot more easily than the old ones came out. I still need to put the interiour back together and refurbish the closing-panels before installing them, but that, as Edd China says, is a project for another day.

I put my engine back in after fitting a new 8.5 inch clutch.

It was quite a struggle getting engine and gearbox to mate. The bellhousing and engine block flanges looked parallel, but I could not get any closer than 3/4 inch away (input shaft fouling on pilot bearing). I had to raise the engine up to check I had not damaged the pilot bearing after one hour of shaking about and up and down on the engine crane and the gearbox jack.

Then the penny dropped. I found the best indicator that the engine and gearbox was actually in line was looking at the ring gear. I found with my setup that the ring gear has to be parallel with the bellhousing flange as well - that could easily apply to most other elans and +2s. In my case I was actually a good 2mm out. To get a better alignment I had to get the gearbox as high as it would go, and drop the engine down so it was scraping on the chassis. Rohan's excellent thread on the subject mentions the gearbox positioning.

In my case not having a tilting mechanism on the crane made things harder, but not impossible, as after a few more minutes of heaving, the engine slid forward into the 5mm gap postion and I was able to carefully draw engine and gearbox on the 4 lower connecting bolts. I even managed to remember the interface plate! Result!

Cheers,

Dave Chapman.

While the Engine is out to reduce oil leaks i've removed the Gearbox.
Never ever done a Gearbox before. I think it's the first time for my Sprint also.
I was getting rumbling noises when driving.
Already fitted TTR Propshaft so it's not that. I can see play on Input Shaft bearing movement front to back. Lipseal on Tailshaft gone hard also. Order been placed at TTR and enjoying the tinkering.
Alan

Dash and crash pad out on my S3 to re-veneer the dash and replace the crashpad. If it turns out good, I'll post
before and after pictures.