Enjoying my Lotus at last

[pauljones]

Thanks Robbie ill be reading that again soon. Fathers day came early, i got my re con heater today in post along with some wipers, thanks John for that. Just need to find time to fit it all. Then in true loti fashion, move onto the next job, geting tachometer working.

[Tournesol]

regarding the speed of the windows, mine always worked but were a little sluggish. Changed the earth strap on the engine and they are much much faster...

[pauljones]

Appreciate the response,car was rewired few years back. I think mine was caused by a few issues mainly lack of use. Drivers side is as good as a modern car,passenger side still slow ish but i think needs a strip down and service.
Thanks tho,

[Si Geen]

Nice one Paul,

If you ever venture over Goodwood way let me know.

Regards

Simon.

[pauljones]

Hi Si,

Nice to hear from you,been away i guess?

Im only going away on holiday now as ive joined the civvy world. More lotus driving time, every day. PM me with loc stat and ill pop over next time im at Goodwood.

I still need to put on my new wipers as the weather on the south coast has been amazing, and im thinking its time i looked at getting the Spyder conversion started. But for now im too busy using Sophie everyday. The sound is amazing.

Paul

[pauljones]

Morning all,

So now we have had a few rain showers on the South Coast which forced me to fit my shinny new wippers, in approx 5seconds each side. One job done i guess, thanks John.

But now im starting to feel that the car is a little loose and bouncey, and sometimes feels like its crashing rather noisily over pot holes and radom manhole covers. I can sit at around 60 on the M27 and its fine but any more and its a bit unsettled. Around town and on the twisty beach road i dare not push too hard either.
So ive checked the fronts out and everything is fine, no rocking on the balljoints or in the bearings. In fact it all looks and feels nice and tight.
Then onto the rear end and i cant feel anything out off the ordinary there either.
Pressures are a little higher than the manual, 24 front and 26 rear but ive always had them at that.

Ive checked what i think i can and should but am i missing anything that could be effecting the suspension and ride in general.
I really dont want to take her off the road again.

Incidently i just got her insured for another year. ?99 all in. Bargain

Paul

[jono]

....what sort of dampers are fitted?

I've played around with my Plus 2 suspension for ages and have finally got it handling very nicely. The damper rates/condition make a huge difference.

[pauljones]

Red ones are fitted.

Ive had her for 10years so i know they are old in time, but i dont know what miles they're on. Ive been pondering the idea to replace them anyway, just dont know what package to go for. Even tho all the bushes look ok my gutt feeling says poly bushes aswell.
Its just strange that its appeared suddenly which makes me think of component failure, rather than a gradual deterioration which would indicate components wearing.

[pauljones]

After a bit of research and a chat with a few suppliers, mostly our lovely Sue, ive decided to splash out on a set of new suspension and bushes to try and cure this dreadfull knocking and poor cornering.

So im looking at a set of TTR fronts, fully adjustable and with adjustable springs.

Rears ill go the same but im thinking of keeping the origonal size springs in non adjustable format but 1in lower.

Both koni sourced.

Also thinking of going fully poly bushed at same time. Ive read quite a lot of posts on it and it seems 50/50 as to the love/hate relationship.

Whats others thoughts on it from those that have done it recently,?

All this is because handling has gotten so bad i tip toe into corners but still cant find a source of a problem, so im guessing i strip it all out, replace the above, and anything else that looks like its failed. Hopefully ill get it sorted before putting in the zetec.

[pauljones]

O dear.

I think ive killed of a twincam heart. Just after fueling up this evening I heard a hissing sound. On inspection it was oil vapour coming out of the cam cover cork gasket, mainly towards the rear of engine. Also sounded like it was coming from bellow too, made me think it was the heater pipes, but wasnt coolant. The oil cap was red hot and when i took it off it was thick with vapour. Just to be clear the rocker cover was showing visible leakage of fumes, i can not confirm lose of coolant.
As i was easing her home i could hear and feel a kind of mechanical rumbling noise from what seemed like the clutch area.

Any thoughts to start me off in my investigations?

[billwill]

The oil cap does get too hot to touch without a cloth, so that's not a major symptom in itself.

Difficult to know what might be wrong.

[pauljones]

Thanks to some great Southern English sunny weather i managed to take a look. Ive allready topped up with oil so i knew i had life blood in her. During investigation before i saw the water was low. Today i topped up with 4ltrs of just water, to help it around i ran it for a while then switched off. When it was off i pumped the top hose, and heard a distinct sound of a leak from round the rear right.
Im thinking my coolant hoses have perished some where and she overheated. I need to take off my airfilters to get in that area and have a good look. Gives me a good chance to enquire about some bigger filters to keep my friend Alan happy,

[billwill]

It's a bad idea to run for any significant time with plain water with no anti-freeze as coolant. Aluminium parts will tend to corrode and the water pump seals will not last very long.

I speak from bitter experience.

[pauljones]

Thats a good point to make.

Im only using water to flush it out for a few cycles. Ill use a 50/50 mix when i get new hoses.

But thanks

[Sea Ranch]

On the other hand . . . I really like what I'm reading about these folks:
http://www.norosion.com/

Their product allows you to run straight water along with their chemical and control all corrosion issues. Which also means (and this was news to me) you get the superior heat transfer/cooling properties of water, as compared to antifreeze. This could make a significant difference in our cars (cooling problems are a regular topic with Elan owners, it seems).

Of course, you have to monitor your weather, seasons, storage, travel, et cetera, carefully. At the very least, I do not plan to run antifreeze in a 50/50 solution as it's way more freeze protection than I will ever need. I plan to use the lowest amount of glycol necessary, to take advantage of the superior cooling of water.

Just some thoughts, YMMV . . . check out the webpage . . .

Regards,

Randy