What did you do to your Lotus today...

[DamianB]

..and with the carbs off, tested the accelerator pump jets.
Before, not good:
Link to video - https://www.icloud.com/photos/#016Te5ar ... RfVkQ0DXjA

After, much better:
Removed pump jets and gave them a careful clean
Link to video - https://www.icloud.com/photos/#0320eUTU ... oh5IxjMM0w

[vstibbard]

Max my son and I went for a cruise in the S2 Super Seven on Sydney’s Northern Beaches this afternoon, sunny early summer day, a few nice traffic light blasts and then back for a wash and polish.
Nice to see my son interested, Max looks after the Seven.
Vaughan

[alan.barker]

Hi Vaughan,
Wouldn't mind seeing that in the flesh. All Flights have been confirmed.
Looked at my Sprint in paint shop.
Alan

[Graham B]

Finally finished refreshing my Elan S4 SE wheels and tyres.

New Boots

After owning the car since 1980, at last I have refurbished the wheels.

I checked the 7 rims I have for wobble and lift (to the specs in the WS manual) and selected the best 5.
These were shot-blasted and powder coated by Redditch Shotblasting Co Ltd. with a Matt Silver finish.

As mentioned elsewhere, I applied a thin bead of exterior, clear silicone to seal the gap between rim and centre disc to stop rust coming through.

Some were rather rusty and the pits show through but I am pleased with the results. The shot blasting revealed batch numbers on most of the rims and all but one are stamped "RO & CO 4 1/2 J x 13 made in england".

And today Mr Tyre fitted my new set of Pirelli CA67 155 R13 78H Cinturato tyres and tubes from Longstone tyres.
Being an SE they should have trims but the chrome is to far gone to polish and the quotes I did get came out more than the tyres!

Looking forward to a sunny day!!

Graham

[trw99]

Got my horn to toot consistently by cleaning the contacts, all thankfully still intact.

All seems well apart from erosion around the top (as I look down on it) of the steering column, as in the photo. The underside appears fine. (The photos are of the assembly before I cleaned it!).

Obviously the column could be replaced if necessary, but any ideas about what could be causing this and, if so, is there a remedy?

The other thing I did today was to drive the Sprint a few miles, to Halfords, since you ask. On the way a blue Emira, coming the other way, gave me a friendly flash. I just about had time to raise my right hand in reciprocal greeting; certainly not enough time to pull up the headlamp switch, switch on the headlights, switch off the headlights and lower the pods! A friendly and clearly knowledgeable Emira driver!

Then whilst I was waiting in the queue for a roundabout, a driver coming the other way in what looked like a Qashqai flashed his lights and gave me a thumbs up. Another driver with good taste, obviously!

Tim

[661]

but any ideas about what could be causing this and, if so, is there a remedy?

Tim

I suspect that is pretty reasonable for the end of a 50 year old steel rod. ( Unless you keep it in an oxygen free environment)
As for the horn not working, in addition to your steering wheel contacts, I've generally found this a problem of earthing through the steering rack to column coupling.






PS, As I'm just going through this thread for the first time in a while, I noticed your rear toe out on one side. I'd be uncomfortable with that. If you wish to keep an original look, TTR do an increased toe in , OEM looking rear A frame. I suspect yours has been a jacking point.

[trw99]

Graeme,

Earthing is good and toots are back!

Yes, the n/s rear wishbone has an imperceptible bend in one arm. I'm going to have it straightened out over the winter, using an hydraulic press and anvil. I have to keep the car as original as possible, so I aim to repair rather than replace where possible.

Tim

[trw99]

Had the front wheels properly balanced today, by the same firm that did my tracking recently.

I had steering wheel wobble starting at 60mph, which got worse around '70' mph and then disappeared at 80 mph. I had visions of all sorts of front suspension and/or steering issues, so thought that I would get the wheels balanced before I hared around the front of the car on a diagnostic hunt. I'm glad I did!

I was told that one wheel was '20', which was okay, but the other at 70 was way out. I have no idea what the figures represent! There is no doubting the positive effect of the proper balance, though. Smoothly accelerating through the gears on the dual carriageway and no steering wheel wobble. I can now cruise at a much higher rate of knots.

Then this afternoon I replaced one of my now working twin low note horns with a high note. My toots do not sound so puny.

Whilst I was down there I also cleaned up the low beam wire bullet connector and the end of it that goes onto the relay. This was to rectify a failed low beam. All good and back to two working headlights.

Tim

[persiflage]

Picked up my new acquisition and took the chance of a 120 odd mile journey home. Didn’t have to use my tools once but the last 50 odd minutes were interesting.
My thanks to my co-driver and support car

[elansprint71]

Finally... after 22 years of ownership(!) I made a start on fitting an electric fuel pump to prime the Dellorto carbs of the Sprint, so that it will start first time after standing idle for a while.

Also... scrabbled around under the S4SE to try to remember where I was up to last time! The engine has to come out (already changed the diff) I SO wish that I had removed the body to make those jobs easier- everything seems so much harder than it did in the 1970s.

[trw99]

Well done, Pete, nice to know you're back in action!

Good luck

Tim

[elansprint71]

Thanks Tim.

Today I dropped the engine using my new 3 tonne trolley jack, might sound a bit excessive but we do have a motorhome (RV) too. Removed the engine mounts and extracted the nest of snakes exhaust headers and the oil pump in order to give a bit of clearance when I crane the motor out. Put the engine back in, loosely, so that I can position both the car and the crane in my too-short garage. The plan is to lift the motor and push the car outside while I swap the gearboxes and do the necessary to the engine. This may not happen in the immediate future as I'm about to become prostrate with my prostate; going into hospital next week for some planned maintenance.

At lunch-time I went into the house leaving the oil-pump and filter sitting on the floor under the car; when I returned it looked like a murder scene from the movies- a large stain spreading slowly from under the car informed me that the pump and filter has fallen over in my absence. Bugger!

[mark030358]

Thanks Tim.

Today I dropped the engine using my new 3 tonne trolley jack, might sound a bit excessive but we do have a motorhome (RV) too. Removed the engine mounts and extracted the nest of snakes exhaust headers and the oil pump in order to give a bit of clearance when I crane the motor out. Put the engine back in, loosely, so that I can position both the car and the crane in my too-short garage. The plan is to lift the motor and push the car outside while I swap the gearboxes and do the necessary to the engine. This may not happen in the immediate future as I'm about to become prostrate with my prostate; going into hospital next week for some planned maintenance.

At lunch-time I went into the house leaving the oil-pump and filter sitting on the floor under the car; when I returned it looked like a murder scene from the movies- a large stain spreading slowly from under the car informed me that the pump and filter has fallen over in my absence. Bugger!

Good luck with the prostrate, hope it’s nothing major. I have to agree that stuff takes longer, uk I think that’s because we are older…

All the best and good luck.

Cheers
Mark

[Hawksfield]

Hi all
Did some maintenance on my twin cam today,
Checked TDC using magnetic dial gauge, result was ok according to timing marks good enough for setting timing and cam chain setting, not for setting camshaft configuration
Then checked valve clearances that were set by QED on the 10/06/93 when fitting new seats
all were in spec although two inlets were at 0.005.5" from 0.007, other two at 0.007"Two exhausts had closed up one to 0.010" and one to 0.009 both from 0.011" Not bad service shame they stopped in house work.
I have attached an image showing the setting marks of the QED replacement sprockets at TDC that may help others
Cheers for a great site
John

[Quart Meg Miles]

Impressive, John, but how many miles has the engine covered in 30 years?