Newbie Lotus Owner

[malrig]

I have a Lucas AB14 tester if you are ever over west oxford way. Happy to loan it

I might take you up on that thanks Stu - West Oxford would be a nice drive out when it's sorted - I'll PM you separately when I'm confident it's running ok.

[malrig]

Finally - all back together.
Had a bit of a nightmare trying to find fuel fittings, so, after a couple of failed attempts and product returns, I eventually went for the option of clamping the new hose over the old fuel line. I can't find the post where this idea is suggested, but thanks to whoever wrote it as it seems to work fine.

I wasn't keen on this approach initially, but it's all done now and is leak free.
I was particularly keen to get the new filter in before the fuel pump while there is no filter/strainer in the tank. Looking at the diagrams there is a tiny filter in the fuel pump inlet of the ASX1308 SU fuel pumps, so I was concerned about that collecting all the rubbish and getting blocked up if I positioned the fuel filter after the pump.
I put a big OE type filter in rather than one of the little ones for two reasons :
1. Expected longer life in the case that it does see a lot of contamination
2. Higher flow capacity - I figured if it will do a 300bhp car then it should flow plenty of fuel.

Here is the inlet system now looking a bit more cared for :

Next steps in the engine bay will be to paint the cam covers, and then maybe the coolant header and brake servo.

So, you may be wondering whether all of this actually solved the problem ?
Well, not quite ...
Tickover was still rough, and I finally traced that to the carbs being way out of balance. The front carb throttles were being held open when the rear was on the stop. I adjusted the screw setting the relative position of front and rear throttles until the tickover dropped and became much smoother, then could set the tickover properly with the main throttle stop. Mixture screws are also set much leaner than before the stripdown and it all works lovely
I was a bit concerned about two potential problems on the first test drive :
1. That I might have gone too lean on the mixture.
2. That I might get some fuel starvation with the filter ahead of the pump.

I've now had it out 3 times including 2 runs of 5miles and all seems to be running well, so hopefully I have actually fixed it - fingers crossed.
As it turns out you were right Tony when you suggested a good service and work through the whole system would be required - definitely more than one thing contributing to the problems.

Next major job will now have to be the one I am definitely not looking forward to - the headlining .......
In the meantime, the tracking needs sorting - I've made some adjustments based on very agricultural measurement methods, but I'd like to get it right. I'm wondering whether to invest in the TrackAce tracking gauge rather than just take it to a garage - any thoughts ?
Also, I suspect one of the steering arms may be slightly bent, so need to have a think about that.

[Pete Boole]

I use a device similar to the TrackAce - works fine with a little care.

Pete

[malrig]

Cheers Pete.
I decided to treat myself and splashed out on the TrackAce tracking gauge. I bought it from Rally Design and it came next day.

I just about managed to get the car positioned far enough over to enable me to position the laser device and do the measurement in the garage.
The tool works well once you've got it set up - I managed to get consistent readings and am now happy that the tracking is set within spec after 3 adjustments. I currently have it at 16" - 17" toe in, which is equivalent to 1.7mm (spec 1.2mm - 3.2mm). Steering wheel is nicely centred.
I'll bring the kit along when I finally get out to a meet in case other people want to give it a try.