It's alive!!! What a sweet sound!

[alaric]

Sorry to hear that Keith. Very frustrating for you. I've still got just water in mine and was wondering this afternoon how long I could leave it before a mix of some description should go in. My original rad seeped from a seam, despite looking brand new and having powder coated brackets.

I got the windscreen wiper motor installed. That's an interesting assembly that doesn't seem like it should work. Once all bolted up it's very solid though. Sure the body's going to crack around the pivots though. Can I face fibreglassing the underside and then sanding it to get the surfaces true? I think I'm going to have to. Bother.

Still. I drove it up and down the driveway again today, so that's ok.

I also tried the bumpers for fit and they look like they'll go straight on without any hassle. The manual mentions some rubber spacers. Ah? Can't remember those. Never mind.

All the best.

Sean.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Hi,

regarding coolant, may I recommend pre-mixing the antifreeze with water, preferably 40:60 ratio unless you're anticipating very low ambient temperatures (-20?C or more); after that 50:50.
The pre-mixing is not so vital in the standard Elan cooling system but in systems using header tanks an increased concentration of antifreeze in the cooling system could occur (not good,see previous postings)) by adding water to the initial fill of antifreeze.

Hope your leakages dissapear soon

Cheers
John

[kcrossle]

Thanks for the heads-up John. Temperatures here (NY North Shore, aka Lake Ontario) can range from -15 to 95F (calculating... -26 to 35C) or more so I figured proper coolant was a must for both extremes. But at this phase of the game, running a while with simple water sounds OK.

For anyone in this area, we're sending the rad to BJ Radiator. They have worked with other restoration work and they are the ones where I needed an old, outdated part and they dug around to find it and charged me nothing. Good guys.

Sean - I am starting to feel "spooked" by this. You do something then I go and have it go wrong. We tested all the electronic components and when it came to the wipers they just wiggled before extremely bad smells came out of the motor. It's not the drive part; I must have re-assembled the motor / bushings wrong somehow. I have decided that a call to Mr. Matty's establishment is probably the best course of action at this point.

Dash pad done and headliner going in... let's hope it stays reliable now.


Keith

[alaric]

Sorry about that Keith. I'm away on business for a week now so you've a chance to make some progress before I tackle anything else...

Sean.

[kcrossle]

It runs! Sounds great too... quite a difference from the old Elan and extremely different from my daughter's Ford product with Zetec. Those Jenvey throttle bodies make as satisfying a noise as the exhaust.

Now, with power and vacuum, some things to work out.. getting solenoid to work the headlights and getting various electrical bits to work. One window works (in reverse) but the other does nowt. Replaced the original Fiamm horn with modern one and What a Noise!

The uphostery guy had a hard tmie recovering the dash pad with one piece so he made it in two parts to the pattern then made a "French Stitch" I think he called it to bring them together. Excellent work and appearance. But the fitting and gluing made the pad not align well with where it goes, so we have a bit more fiddling. Why is everything getting harder as we get closer to being done?!

Still, a great day!

Keith

[alaric]

Sonds good Keith. Glad to hear you're beating the gremlins into submission.

I'm trying to figure out how to mount the lights and bumpers. When I took them off I don't recall small rubber mounts between the bumper and bodywork as mentioned in the manual.

On the front indicator lights, is there anything between the light and the bodywork? I don't think there is, but it feels as though there should be.

On the rear lights, do they just bolt through the bodywork with large washers on the inside? My plan is to use large washers. I haven't fitted the boot lid and associated brackets yet. I'm off to the loft to find anything I can from the boot.

If anyone has pics of these areas and advice / mods I'd really appreciate it. It's been a long time since I took it apart.

I drove the car up and down the driveway this morning with brakes working (servo bypassed). Feels great - I've tried 1st and 2nd with a little blip of acceleration - no clunks and the gears are really nice to select. Reverse is easy to find too. Brakes are starting to work, but after 10 years sitting around there's a bit of rust on the discs...

Sounds luvely.

Sean.

[kcrossle]

Sean - welcome back to Lotus Land!

Between the body and the bumper I had a piece of something... rather like a square hors d'ouvre that had been left out all night then baked all day. I did not taste it. Used a spongy gasket material instead.

Front indicators - if my experience is right there is a gasket inside but it does not go between the chromy bits and the body. The back lights have a rubber gasket all the way 'round and bolt in as you say with large washers.

Good luck in the loft. Remember, any left over bits contribute to lightness.


Keith

[alaric]

Thanks Keith.

I've pressed on with installing the brackets etc in the boot. I've found that I need to put spacers between outer rivets on the cross bar that spans the rear edge of the boot aperture and the fibre glass. It's definately a hand built car! This'll leave me with an uneven gap across the back of the boot but I can't think how to alter it now the paint's on. That'll have to wait till the next paint job.

I'm going to have to fettle the bodywork to get the front indicators to sit down snugly. That'll be a delicate operation.

But it's good when you start putting stuff on the car, rather than repeatedly putting the engine in and out. Is that a light at the end of the tunnel? It'll be nice to get all the seats and wheels out of the loft. The doors are very heavy once full of motor and metal frames. That'd be an interesting place to look for lightness. Perhaps that's a future project, after I've added some lightness round my tum.

All the best.

Sean.