Lights. (camera action)

[stugilmour]

Do you have motors in yours? where can i get them from, mx5 possibly?

Paul, I understand folks have used MX-5 motor(s).

For my Federal car I used one motor from a Toyota Corolla. There are a number of threads regarding the conversion and the wiring, a few different ways it has been done, etc. The Federal light switch assembly makes wiring pretty clean because it already has a Normally Closed (NC) contact in the dash mounted micro-switches. If your car is not set up this way you may need an extra relay to provide an NC contact; this is the contact that rotates the lights down when they are turned off. There are a few other tricks to the wiring; all pretty straight forward once explained but a bit bizarre when trying to figure it out.

Another quick note. The wiring requirements may be a bit different depending on the donor car. The units all look the same but have subtle differences in the wire colours and diode locations. This can lead to a bit of confusion when getting someone else's diagram to work with your car and motors.

If you are ripping motors out at the wrecking yard, make sure you cut off the main loom wires and retain the motor plug; makes it a lot easier to read an on-line wiring diagram for the donor car and makes a cleaner install in the Lotus. Not a small project but an excellent upgrade considering the cost of new vacuum cylinders, etc.

I found mounting the motor and getting the arm lengths right to be the trickiest part; basically as many ways to do this part as there are conversions. Lots of interesting solutions out there, from roughed in Mechano to a re-purposed MX-5 mount. I think my mount is a fence post mount or something.

Let us know if you want more info, or revive one of the archived threads with a few questions if you want to go for it.

Cheers!

[Jason1]

Lots of interesting solutions out there, from roughed in Mechano to a re-purposed MX-5 mount.

Sadly the Meccano was only for the mock-up but ruffled a few feathers,

I used MX5 motors but the throw is too short so had to extend to 50mm. I am told the the throw on the Supra is correct so if you can get Supra motors that will save you some work. The brackets were easy to make and work well.

A pic of mine (minus the Meccano) ideally I will find some Supra arms and fit at a later date.

Jason

[stugilmour]

Sadly the Meccano was only for the mock-up but ruffled a few feathers,

I used MX5 motors but the throw is too short so had to extend to 50mm. I am told the the throw on the Supra is correct so if you can get Supra motors that will save you some work. The brackets were easy to make and work well.

A pic of mine (minus the Meccano) ideally I will find some Supra arms and fit at a later date.

Jason

Hey Jason, the Meccano never offended me; thought it was a great solution, particularly when I read in an earlier thread that it was primarily as a mock-up. The final bracket solution looks great.

Agree completely regarding the throw on the motor arm being the primary issue. I solved the issue on my Federal car by shortening the effective length of the actuating arm (attached to the bar between the two light pods) by bending it in a 'Z' shape. I recall I had to relocate the pod attachment hole a bit as well. I also recall a lot of sketches and the calculator tan button or something similar to figure it all out.

Another quick point for anyone playing with these motors on the living room floor. They are unbelievably powerful, so watch your fingers around the rotating arm.

[pauljones]

This is what I like about lotus ownership,everyone mucks in and helps out.Thanks guys,really helpfull.I think what I will do is convert to electric motors, but not just yet,I will get the lights up in vacuum mode and keep them there if it all fails and convert next year.

So on those grounds,can you post pics of the how's and why's and any dimensions. Anything to help me on my way.im thinking it would be good to have as a kind of instruction manual for others too.

Paul

[pauljones]

Well,

Thanks to a day off I now have working lights,well they raise but very slowly under there own power,but if i push them up they will stay in position. Any ideas on sorting this out?
Im thinking its just a case of replacing all the pipes and use new clips to give a better seal. I wonder how long that will take me to do?

Thanks Guys for all the tips and the pictures.

Paul

[Limey]

On my +2 I noted that the headlight vac switch has an in and an out connection.
When the switch is in the off position, the outlet is open to atmosphere to allow the pods to go back to their shut position.
When the switch is in the on position, the outlet is joined to the inlet, and the opening to the atmosphere shut off, therefore applying the vac to the pods.
If you don't put the pipes on the switch the correct way round, the system doesn't work well at all.....

Hope that helps.
Steve

[pauljones]

All,

I did try a little test.The pipe that goes to the left pod (from the dash switch) has lots of suction so thats good right? The pipe that goes between the two pods is still the same one, but there is no air leaks I can find.

So in theory,they should work ok. It may be that they are a little stuck from lack off use.

Just a point,what is the use of the cross member? I ask this because Im thinking of bypassing it and linking the vacum to the switch direct to try and elliminate air leak in the cross member.?

Paul

[types26/36]

Just a point,what is the use of the cross member? I ask this because Im thinking of bypassing it and linking the vacum to the switch direct to try and elliminate air leak in the cross member.?Paul

As I understand it is, if you did not have the vacuum chamber (cross member) when accelerating up a long hill or even in rapid acceleration the headlights would go down as the vacuum drops, the cross member holds the vacuum to keep the headlights raised.......or am I wrong?

[oldelanman]

Just a point,what is the use of the cross member? I ask this because Im thinking of bypassing it and linking the vacum to the switch direct to try and elliminate air leak in the cross member.?Paul

As I understand it is, if you did not have the vacuum chamber (cross member) when accelerating up a long hill or even in rapid acceleration the headlights would go down as the vacuum drops, the cross member holds the vacuum to keep the headlights raised.......or am I wrong?

I believe the vacuum reservoir is only necessary to ensure that there is sufficient vacuum available to raise the pods on demand under any engine speed/load condition. Without it the pods will rise slowly when accelerating or hill climbing but, once raised should not rise and fall as conditions vary unless there is a vacuum leak or the non-return-valve is not working.

[SonnyS]

Hi Guys,

It may be under negative pressure but is it not just simple pneumatics? A circuit with an accumulator/pulsation damper in it aka the cross member.

Regards - Sonny

[oldelanman]

Hi Guys,

It may be under negative pressure but is it not just simple pneumatics? A circuit with an accumulator/pulsation damper in it aka the cross member.

Regards - Sonny

Yes

[billwill]

Just a point,what is the use of the cross member? I ask this because Im thinking of bypassing it and linking the vacum to the switch direct to try and elliminate air leak in the cross member.?Paul

As I understand it is, if you did not have the vacuum chamber (cross member) when accelerating up a long hill or even in rapid acceleration the headlights would go down as the vacuum drops, the cross member holds the vacuum to keep the headlights raised.......or am I wrong?

I suppose that with a perfect non-leaky system and a perfect non-leaky non-return valve between the manifold and the T-piece, you could dispense with the reservoir action of the cross-member. Anyway it's easy to try out, just pull the T-piece off the cross-member and plug the short pipe with a rubber bung or a piece of a pencil etc. Then try the headlight lifting.

Without a non-return valve (fitted the correct was around) on the pipe from the manifold you would (in my opinion) definitely get headlights which bobbed up and down depending on engine action.

[robertverhey]

Yep the crossmember "stores" the vacuum for those long uphill stretches, otherwise your lights would slowly sink.

Andy I'd be keen to see a pic of that spider chassis mod, as I bought a NOS one for my resto and I'd like to compare the modded one it to mine.

Robert

[pauljones]

All.

With reference to Bills statement, non return valve between the manifold and T piece, Does any one have a picture of what this looks like? My manifold take off NOW goes direct to the T piece. There is to my knowledge NOTHING in the entire system that isnt just a pipe,less the light switch itself. Am I missing a bit?

Thanks for all the replies about the cross member,I really didnt know what it was for.

Paul

[JJDraper]

When I first got my +2 the lights were very sluggish to rise, which I put down to a faulty Non Return Valve (NRV) on the manifold - see second pic. The original type of NRV seems to be unavailable, but Mattys supply an in-line substitute device (branded with RS Components logo) as per third pic. The problem was in fact fatigue cracks in the vacuum reservoir around the lower suspension pin(s) which eventually gave way under heavy braking(!).

I ran the line direct from the manifold to an electric vacuum solenoid valve (first pic), which worked perfectly apart from the droop in headlamps under heavy acceleration - one way of moderating speed at night.. After fitting a new frame, the reservoir is now re-instated, and the original NRV is fine. The electric solenoid vacuum control system is robust and has never failed despite being mounted in the nose and subject to dousing in muck and water for years. The original tubes routed to a switch in the dash & back has always seemed clunky - (why put more holes in the bulkhead?).

The headlamp lightswitch is the standard Ford twist and pull, readily available from classic Ford people.

Just my experience of this weird system!

Jeremy