First job jobbed - 2 more found !!!

[Alan_M]

Great job!! Only problem is I won’t be able to keep with you now down Derbyshires bumpy roads!

[Pete Boole]

Well done Tony - good result! Now get on with the Elite

Pete

[MetBlue]

I've suffered exactly the same issue with the MGB gearlever gaiter pulling it out of gear, I'll try your fix.

If Richard had the same experience, this is probably a common issue, so a bit more detail about my solution.



I worked out how far forward was needed, buy selecting 5th gear and finding a good position that didn't strain the rubber too much, then just checked 2nd would select.

New front holes are no issue, but the rear fixing would end up in the hole without extending the fixing ring. There was enough rubber under the plate that I still got a seal, but even if there wasn't, it would still be a whole lot more sealed than the old broken down and split rubber.

Tony

[MetBlue]

It all started with a wish to remake the spare wheel cover due to distortion and the spring fasteners breaking off the board.


But the rear wall ( tank cover) was also in a poor state due to being forced out on more than one occasion ( haven't they all ?), plus IMO Lotus never finished trimming the boot, leaving the top underside uncovered, so I embarked on a few new panels to be covered in a black boot carpet.

Taken far longer than first thought due to various curved balls along the way, but almost there now. Picture below before covering is easier to see what I've done ( It's all just black now most of the carpet covering is done).


Except for carpet, all materials are recycled from various past projects - never throw anything away !! - it'll come in useful one day . It's a mix of thin marine ply, and fibre board, which I'll seal on the reverse side and trust to luck on the carpeted side.

Maybe post pictures of the finished job later if all goes to plan.

Tony

[Pete Boole]

Excellent Tony! It will be interesting to see if it makes it any quieter as well.

Pete

[KevW]

That's a neat job in the boot Tony. Can you imagine a maker of an expensive sports coupe getting away with part trimming a boot now? Customer expectations have certainly 'changed over the years

It's interesting reading your experience with the MGB gear shift gaiter. After I cut about an inch from the top of my MGB gaiter it fitted straight on using the manufacturer's mounting holes and I've had no problems at all.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324603986311

[Excel SA]

Nice Tony - useful pics for me as I have no backboard, nor the battery cover - will need to make some up at some point. Will also need to renew the other bits, but at least I have templates for those.

Neil.

[MetBlue]

This was like trying to photo the proverbial black cat in coal cellar, but hopefully these give flavour for whats done.





Both pic's show the new LED additional boot lights on teh under panel. The battery box is a little larger than the Lotus variant, but it covers my tool roll that sits along side the battery, then a "middle of Lidl" cheap socket set, that actually looks of decent quality.


And for those dodgy battery moments, a little pocket to hold the Power boost, plus a trickle charge point built in.


Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. Tomorrow we find out if the golf clubs still fit

Tony

[MetBlue]

useful pics for me as I have no backboard,

The back board was probably one of the trickiest parts. If you run a single board across the back, you can't lift the wheel cover boot floor out , hence the "draw" you will see in one of the photos.
The original Lotus back board has a strange triangular pivoting profile in the centre bottom, and I now know why.
Tony

[Excel SA]

Very organised Tony - a James Bond gadget boot!

I will be saving the pics for future reference - happy you managed to get them.

Neil.

[MetBlue]

Two more steps forward on the continuous improvement front.

Since buying the car ( wow, it's three years now), the vacuum feed to the distributor was always disconnected and plugged - Golf tee's have a number of uses. The technical Article on Vacuum piping prompted me to understand the system better resulting in rigging a set of Vacuum gauges in the grill, so I could see what was happening to the distributor feed during start up and driving ( I know I only needed one gauge, but it is set from my 4 pot motorcycling days and not worth stripping them down).

Interesting exercise, which eventually led me to conclude the warm up vac valve was working correctly and the throttle edge vac feed ( switched in once engine starts to warm up) produces vacuum during acceleration, but appears to drop off as soon as steady speed is reached. Long story short - plugged it onto the dixzzy, starting is unaffected and first impressions are that a hesitation I got around 2000 - 2500 RPM on acceleration is much improved. I'm keeping the golf tee handy though just in case

Next job : Passenger window has always been slow in operation. When I changed the door beam, I spent ages trying to get a better movement by various spacers on the frame, but never was brilliant. Earlier this week I decided it was time to try again. Some PTFE spray on the seals made the glass free to fall at least half way under it's own weight, but still very sluggish under power. I put a battery feed directly to the motor and it went up & down like lighting. Investigation showed the bullet connector at the last feed before the motor were not giving good continuity, so cut them off and replaced with a couple of new spade connectors. It's now much better, but still room for a little more improvement ( and the same to do on the drivers door) . The passenger sw on the drivers door is much less effective than the one in the passenger door (More connections to pass through).

Time for some driving this weekend at LITP.
Tony

[Pete Boole]

What was the highest vacuum you ever saw Tony? I'll be running a vacuum pump and wondered how it compared to the "standard" vacuum in the inlet manifold.

I'll be fitting relays as close to the window motors as I can get them (and still keep them dry!), with some chunky wires feeding the current - just an idea.

Pete

[MetBlue]

Never see more than about 35 kPa on the distributor feed pipe.
I can put a gauge directly to the manifold sometime to see if I get more.
Tony

[MetBlue]

. Time for some driving this weekend at LITP.

As many will know, I tempted fate with that statement. .
Car now has new distributor pick up coil and Ignition coil, as well as the vac advance being connected to the dizzy.
Good news : pick up from tick over and low power is much improved.
Not so good news: Starting is less predictable. Has always been bought to life, but needs fair amount of cranking and playing with the accelerator. Before, at cold, 2 kicks of the accelerator to richen with the accelerator pumps, turn the key and we're running. Hot, just turn the key and play with the throttle.
Maybe I just need to play around to find what works.
Tony

[MetBlue]

Recently been having problems with drivers door lock. Slam closed - it doesn't latch and just bounces open.
Been getting gradually worse, so a couple of weeks ago, I took lock off to do same job as I did on Passenger side in my first week of ownership ( Open the mechanism, grease, clean and rebuild - page 1 of this thread).
Did all that and it was worse than when I started
3 working days later ( Sat, Sun, then another Saturday) and I think I've finally sorted it, but that lock has been in and out so many times now it almost knows it's own way.

On day 2 I established that this slider was sometimes sticking, not allowing the spring pressure to act on the latch

I believe the route cause was three fold:
1 - It had a bend in the back sliding plate - Photo taken after I straightened it
2 - The ali spacer plate CAN sit very close to this slider pin depending on how you tighten things up. I'm convinced sometimes there was contact, so took a notch out to ensure it always misses. (Photo below)
3 - You need A LOT of slop in all the pin linkages of the Z plate. Thinking I'd make things better, on the initial dismantle, I re-shimmed most of the pivot points around the Z plate, greased and it all worked really nicely - Until you fit the link bars to the door handle, which then puts a side load on the whole assembly and causes it to bind.

In the end, I removed all the carefully shimmed pins and made them really sloppy again.



Finally, I have a nicely closing door, that latches instantly. - What a game.