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THE USE OF THE CHOKE (all)
> I've heard conflicting advice on the use of choke. When I bought my first Excel form the London Lotus Centre I was told by Brian Atthews to use the choke rather than pump the throttle. His words were "These are Dellortos not Webers". That means that the spindles have real bearings & seals, and the the acceleration pump mechanism doesn't wear out. Otherwise they are verymuch the same. In the case of Dellorto fitted to Lotus, the problem is the silly bit of dry-cleaning hanger that allegedly connects the "choke" mechanisms of the carbs, which on my car causes it to run on two cylinders at any setting. Using the pump-the-throttle method it will take a minute or so to settle down and run cleanly, which it tells you about by increasing the revs while holding a steady throttle position. From then on it will happily idleat 500rpm stone cold at below freezing. No spitting, banging, hesitationor other temperament. Icing up about 5 miles from home is another matter though :-( Mike By George Swetland
What follows was in response to a "small" cooling
problem encountered while in Phoenix for the
GP in 1990. Due to a stress fracture, one of the brackets
supporting the cooling fan in our Eclat broke. Needless to say,the under
hood cacophony which followed was embarrassing to say the least.Studying
the problem resulted in an easy fix... Here's what you will need...
1 pair of Bosch relays. Like the type which are used to switch onthe 90.130
halogen bulbs in your headlights; 1 used fan shroud with two fans
from an Audi 4000 with A/C, or 2 shrouds from an Audi 5000; about 4
Begin by removing the radiator from the car. I
will not get into how this is done, as the
manual states, it is "fairly straightforward". Lay the shroud
over the radiator and you should find a near perfect fit. Much ofthis will
depend on whether you are still using the outrageously overpricedstock
radiator, or have had it replaced with a more conventional unit. Ifusing
2 of the Audi 5000 units, some cutting and welding may be in order (Ifound
out about the double fan unit from the 4000 after I had finished myproject,
using the 5000 units). Both work equally well, and what you willget is
dependable tornado-like performance from the now shrouded Boschunits. Finish
your project by wiring each fan through one of the relays mentioned
earlier. Power for these should come from some heavy primary typewire connected
directly to the battery. The stupid little button switchlocated in the
top of the radiator hose now has less amperage to handle
Well, here is the follow up to the Cooling Fan Fix part 1. I will try to produce more of these types of stories in the future, expecially now that I appear to have been amde the Eclat/Elite/Sprint Tech Rep. Sooo... Here wego! Why? The manner in which the radiator cooling fans are activeated in the stock vehicle is by means of a small bullet or button switch which is inserted in a rubber grommet located in a Tee shaped pipe in the upper radiator hose. These are prone to leak, spray scalding water on you at themost in-opportune times, blow out and present themselves as a nuisance in general. What you will need... Heavy duty X-Acto knife, hammer, haeavy duty soldering iron or propane torch, 2 female cripm connectors and tool. We first begin by removing the curious Tee shaped
pipe from the upper radiator hose. You may
wish to remove the hood as this makes access much less
"fiddly". Find a local wrecking yard that has a large population ofItalian
cars. I find that "dead" Fiats or Lancias are in good supply inmost areas.
You are looking for a radiator with a fan switch mounted int he
Once you have this home, fire up the torch and un-solder the remaining radiator shell scrap from the bottom of the fitting. Take the stock Tee shaped pipe and cut all but 1" off of the end formerly occupied by thenotorious "bullet" switch. After thoroughly cleaning both pieces, solder the new fitting into the stub end of the stock Tee shaped pipe. If you havechosen the correct one, it will be a perfect fit. If not, back to the junkyard! Before installing the switch and blasting out of the garage, take a few minutes and check out the switch to be sure it works. Wait until the wife (or significant other) is out of the kitchen. Prepare a pot of boilingwater (I find this easier than trying to explain why I'm in the kitchen!).Attach the plus and minus leads from a Volt/Ohm meter to the two connections on the switch. Have it set to check for continuity. Your switchshould "click" and show continuity after 60 seconds in the pot. These are set to switch over at 180°F. Other temperatures are available, check yourscarefully. For those of you who are contemplating having a new radiator built, you can aks the shop to install one of these int he radiator tankitself, thereby despensing completely witht he foregoing. If all is well,install the crimp connectors to the wires, and install the switch. Connectthe wires, top up the coolant and start the car. During warm up, watch yourdash temp gauge. The fans should come on just before 90°C is indicated. Since performing this modification on my own Eclat, I have experienced zero problems with fan activation. Do this now when it's cold outside and you will have a trouble free, cool running car come spring! REPAIRING (GLUEING) FIBREGLASS By Andrew J Huang
Chris wrote:
I once pulled smartly into a parking space beside another car just as the passenger swung the door open and stuffed his door edge into my wheel opening. It's not structural and it should be easy. Glue the piece back on, using the directions below. The procedure is basically pretty easy, but it helps a lot to take your time setting it up. 1) using an old candle or beeswax or other coarse, hard wax, wax the paint heavily for 1" on either side of the seam. This will allow you to remove the epoxy that squeezes out of the seam. Make sure you do not get any wax on the damaged section that you want to glue together. 2) Dry fit the piece to the car. 3) Figure out how you will clamp it to the car while the resin cures. Doing this well makes a big difference in your results. You want to get the chip to sit exactly flush with the surface and be able to hold it that way while the resin sets. If you can get a picture put up (or send it directly to me) I might advise better. One possibility is to fit a piece of hardboard to the door to act like a female mold, another piece on the inside to act like the mandrel of a press, and then sandwich the damaged section between them. If you do this, remember that wax paper or plastic food wrap (yes, that stuff you use to wrap plastic food) are not adhered by the resin and can be used to prevent the cardboard from sticking. They also provide a smooth finished surface (though in this case the resin will not provide a finished surface). Remember that the resin will spread a long way so make sure you've applied enough wax! Without seeing the fit of the pieces it's hard to tell how much you'll need to do the clamping. If the hole is roughly "U" shaped, then it might just stay together by itself, or perhaps just with tape on the backside. Think this part through thoroughly! Although it's not hard, once the resin is mixed, it becomes messy and you have limited time. Try out your scheme before you mix because if you screw up, doing it over again is a lot harder. 3) Mix resin, apply to edges, and clamp in place. I believe that you should be using polyester resin rather than epoxy, but I use epoxy for everything. 4) When it's cured (8hrs) you should be able to remove all the crap for clamping. Clean up the resin on the outside with a sharp single edge razor. Where you waxed, you should be able to lift an edge and peel off the rest. At the seam itself, you might need to cut the resin off. By Kiyoshi Hamai Chapman Report – March 1979 Periodically even Lotuses must be repainted; when
the paint oxidizes to the point of no return
(a permanent buff) or after the repair of "El Crunch-O". In
the case of the former this means a total repaint, in the case of thelater,
it usually means, "We’ll match it as best we can… " A bit of research
in the handy-dandy shop manual we learn there is an entire section
"Crazing itself generally
stops at the first layer of fibre glass and
The reality is that if we are to re-paint our Lotus we are planning to do some bodywork. I doubt seriously if there is any real solution to crazing, consider fiberglass flexes even under its own weight. Therefore we compromise between cost, practicality and beauty. The best results I have seen hasbeen when the first layer of gelcoat has been ground off and the area re-gelcoated. (Remember, the crazing is only about one layer deep.) If the area has been extensively damaged reinforcing from the back side will berequired. Use NO Bondo! Use fiber putty in alternating layers of fiber mat.Newly glassed areas must be sealed before priming. A few words about painting; obviously the ideal would be for the old paint to be completely stripped. (Please note the old paint should be gently ground off so the fiberglass will not be subjected to harmful solvents.)Then proceed to straighten the body and reinforce and re-gelcoat as needed, followed by the priming and painting. It sounds simple, but it is not! Thisexplains why there exists an entire spectrum of body shops doing a varietyof "individualized" qualities of workmanship. Never has the old adage, "You get what you pay for," been more fitting. A discussion of the assortment of paint shops
would be subject enough for a doctorial thesis,
but for the sake of this article I will divide the shops into
3 basic categories; 1) Miracle Special, 2) Better Shops, 3) ConcoursShop.
THE MIRACLE SPECIAL A shop which is usually highly known and highly
advertised. Specializes in revitalizing your
jalopy into a gem for just $69.99 in one day! Unless you remove
much of the trim, chrome and rubber ahead of time, expect paintedmolding,
bright metal and tires. All bodywork is extra, beyond the usual"hand snading"
to rough up the old paint. The new paint is usually sprayed directly
over the old and any cracks are expected to be hidden under the"thick"
layer of "specially" sprayed paint. The paint used is primarilyacyrlic
enamel These shops are usually the fastest and the cheapest, $50 to$500.
THE BETTER SHOP These shops are usually privately owned, many
specializing in fiberglass and luxury/limited
production cars. Also included are dealership shops, such
as Chevy Corvette dealers. The quality and price varies greatly amongthese
shops therefore thorough shopping, checking each shops work andreputation
against their price will aid you greatly in your ultimate
THE CONCOURS SHOP These are always very specialized, custom shops
which take great pride and pains in their
work. Many jobs can take 3-6 months to complete. Work usually
includes the straightening of all cracks, the filling of holes,removal
of all chrome, trim, lights, and windows, the stripping of all paint,
and re-gelcoating as necessary. The entire body is then primed andpainted
with as many coats as necessary to attain a deep glossy shine. Inmany cases
the chrome stuff is also replated before being mounted on the car.
Costs vary according to the job, but usually start at $3000.
Most of us having limited cash flow want the concours
work for the miracle special price. This is
an impossibility in the free enterprise system, so we
must turn to the Better Shops to search out a compromise between costand
beauty. The best advise when shopping for a shop is to know EXACTLYwhat
you’re getting for the price.
GUIDELINE TO GETTING THE MOST FOR THE LEAST (shopping) 1. Write down EXACTLY what you want the
car to look like when finished, list it in
detail.
There are many different types of paint, but there are three major types which are most commonly used. These are: ACYRLIC ENAMEL: A very glossy and somewhat orange peely paint. Very hard, and inflexible, therefore it is a very durable paint yet it is prone to cracking when flexed. Can be difficult to rub out. ACYRLIC LACQUER: A very high gloss paint with no orange peeliness since each coat is rubbed out before the next coat is applied. Very hard and somewhat brittle, but has the deepest looking finish. POLYURETHANE: Two part paints. Have very glossy
and somewhat orange peely finish since it
is very difficult to rub out due to its hardness. It is extremely
durable, yet remains flexible, seems to be well suited for fiberglass.
Must be applied with the strictest attention to the amount of hardeners
and the temperature of application (I’ve heard of miserable failures
because of the lack of attention to these details). Make sure thatthe shop
is experienced with Polyurethanes. It is the most expensive of the3 types
of paints, yet the most durable. Do not shoot clear polyurethaneover lacquer.
They are not compatible.
Finally a word about insurance companies; so much of bodywork is paid for by insurance companies, yet most lay folks know so little about their rights when settling with an insurance company. Here are 3 things that youas a consumer are legally protected and entitled to: 1. A written estimate for the repairs.
Also you have the right to: a. Take your car to the shop of your choice.
Finally… 1. Remember you are responsible for the
cost of repairs and any arrangements for payment
by your insurance
Mike Carrick wrote: Hi,
It's a bonded in screen with trim strips top and
bottom which bond in place over the screen/body
joint.
A thought: may or may not be relevant.
Oh, BTW, in case you didnt know. Be aware that laminated screens are delicate and fragile! Funny I know, as they are strong esp. in impact by heavy stones etc.; but they are easily cracked. So take great carenot to nick the edge, always rest it on soft packing etc. In particular,dont EVER try to lever one off with a screwdriver under it! Just the adhesion of the wet sealer would give enough resistance to crack it. So if you offer it up dry, lift it up by hand by the edges, don't put anything under it to lever it up. And once you put it onto the sealer, that's it, don't try to remove it to 'do it better'. My Elite came with a cracked screen - someone had tried to steal the screen while the car was laid up by the PO, and had cracked it in the process. If this sounds bad, it isnt; I found it easy.
Just passing on the warnings in case; disasters
are expensive.
Have fun. Regards,
Mike, Thank you for the help. The Europa has yet another type of windshield installation. The mastic sits on the fiberglass inset, then the windshield, then the trim piece is pushed in next to the windshield.The windshield is supplied by Bean, where I can save shipping as I go up there from time to time. So, I'm kind of on my own for the mastik. Your tips on keeping things clean, by not touching is appreciated, I wasn't aware of the need for it being kept that clean. Dave gave me a tip that the mastik should be available locally. Thank you again, I'll let you know how hings fair. Jerry Hi Everett I had a similar problem on my old Elan, which I traced to the grounding wire for the starter solenoid. If your solenoid is like mine, it's mounted on the bulkhead on the right side, above/behind the carburetors. The main battery +cable bolts on there, and a shorter cable goes down to the starter. A white wire leads from the ignition switch / tachometer to this solenoid. The solenoid itself is grounded only by a wire which was fastened (at one time)under one of the legs by a screw that goes into the fiberglass bulkhead. Mymounting screw had come partly loosened and the ground wire was making intermittent contact. Check that wire. There are several ways to wire up your new starter - the solenoid could be discarded, because you have one on the new starter, or you could keep the solenoid because it makes a nice junction point for that long, expensivepositive battery cable. Let me know how things are connected between thesolenoid and the battery.... I have one of those starters too but haven't putit on yet due to my old starter immediately behaving properly as soon as thenew one was ordered :-) You should also check the condition of the ground strap that should be snaking from one of the right motor mount bolts over to the frame (under carbs, near coil & distributor) Mike Roeder The click tells you that the solenoid coil is operating. Sometimes the solenoid "clicks" but is not making a good connection in the high current switch portion of the solenoid. Contacts can become bad/intermittent after prolonged use. This can be tested (and the car started) by shorting out the two LARGE terminals on the solenoid. To start the car in this manner, switch the ignition on and short the terminals out using a screwdriver, pliers, or other heavy metal object. DO NOT allow the object to touch ground or sparks will fly and metal will melt. On your Elan, this may be very difficult from above! It would be a good way to test the theory when it won't start by itself. The plunger can also become dirty or sticky and a good rapping will temporarily solve, but they can also stick closed, allowing the starter to run continually. The easiest way to stop it if this happens is to disconnect the battery. Good Luck Mr. Electron From: "Shellswell, Stuart H." >Anyone with an older Esprit, I have
a 1980 S2, using an MSD unit on their car? I would love to
hear from anyone who has input on whether these units are worth the
price.
I have installed an MSD 6A on my 76 Eclat, and it has certainly improvedstarting/running. While the car hasn't been run extensively (I'm 9 years into an on-going restoration!), I have done about 500 miles since installing the MSD, and I have never noticed any misfires, etc. I'm triggering the MSD from the standard points -- I intend to fit a "breakerless" system to the distributor before the car finally gets completed. Because the points are only used to trigger the MSD (rather than provide current to the low-tension side of the coil) they don't "pit-up" so fast, so it's no big deal to use the points while I am restoring the car. My distributor has the standard Lotus rotor arm with a "built-in" rev limiter, so there's no need for the 6AL unit. Of course, if you replace the standard Lotus rotor arm with a non-limiter version, then you may need the 6AL (depending on how often you miss gears/use your right foot!). FWIW, I installed a Piranha (?sp?) optical ignition
system on a 70/71 Elan Sprint that I owned many years ago. It
worked well for about 6 months until it broke. Piranha replaced it
under warranty, but the replacement broke after two weeks! I got
my money back from Piranha and bought a Mobelec ignition system -- I believe
it operates on a Hall
Later I installed a Mobelec unit on a 76 Esprit S1, and that also worked well. -- Stuart Shellswell -- 76 Eclat
POWER STEERING > I think PS was an option on some of the early Elite / Eclat models, but I have no knowledge or details of the system. I think that all but the baseline models had it.
The system used Ford Granada components IIRC.
> Every Excel I ever saw had PS - not speed
sensitive, but the pump had a flow characteristic which reduced with
In theory it was an option on the first few years
of Excel production, but they all had it. You are right that the
assistance change is not noticable. The rack centre comes from Ford
Sierra in two forms, the early cars had constant ratio, but the later ones
had variable ratio, with sloppier steering in the centre (you can tell
which I prefer?).
> The Elan was originally intended to have manual steering, but the steering efforts on the early prototypes were felt to be too high, so PS was added to the Turbo. (I think the NA retained manual ?). Nope, I ordered my NA without power steering,
but it arrived with it. The good news was that Lotus didn't invoice
for it ;-)
> On a car that's heavy enough for low-speed steering effort to be a problem, however, it may be better to accept the PS system, instead of struggling with that effort every day or reducing the gearing and losing some sensitivity at higher speeds. It's definitely better than reducing the gearing!
When I described driving the Esprit V8GT a few weeks ago I said that I didn't think the power steering was as good as the Excel's. I now know why -- it's due to the tyres. I'll have more about this when I've tried the new Bridgestones at Snetterton on Friday. Mike THE RED HOSE SYNDROME From: Steve Brightman > I would like to replace the red hose on my '94 S4 with the steel braided hose from Dave Bean. It finally arrived this a.m. and I can't wait to see how it works out. Does anyone have any tips/caveats on installing this upgrade? Do I have to drill out holes in the chassis? < Start from the front of the car. The right angle
fitting goes at the master cyclinder end.
Enlarge the opening in the fibreglass below the master to clear the other end's fitting. Thread through the new pipe. Protect it where it goes through the whole with a piece of rubber tubing slit lengthwise. A tie wrap around the rubber hose will prevent it falling through the hole. >From underneath you now have a box section to negotiate. Take the rasp to both sides until you have adequately enlarged the holes. Again thread it through and protect with rubber hose. I used one piece of hose long enough to go through the entire section. Tie wraps on each side held it in place. Tip: to thread through this section push some stiff wire (coat hanger) through from the other end. insert the endof the wire into the new pipe and tape in place. Use the wire to pull the hose through. Work back along the car securing using the original clips. At the rear it is not necessary to remove the belly pan if you follow the original route. Enlarge the openings as before and use a wire inserted from the rear of the car (as before) to draw the pipe through. protect again with rubber hose where it goes through the opening. By now you should realise the pipe is too long so coil up the slack and dress it up with a tie wrap. Connect to slave cyliner, fill and bleed. Enjoy trouble free shifting even on the hottest days. Note: another technique has been mentioned which involves routing the pipe down the other side of the car. I never did figure out how to do this so I followed the original routing. Sigurd reckons it took him two hours. I'm slow and take frequent breaks and I reckon I spent six hours. Have fun. Steve "no red pipes" B
From: "Karl Franz Marquez" Steve and Co., Here are my red hose replaclement notes: My SS braided hose didn't come with a right angle fitting. IIRC, maybe this is why you paid more money for it than the rest of us :-) I didn't remove my red hose from the car. I simply removed all the fluid from it by disconnecting both ends and blowing air through it. I then capped both ends. I too started at the front. I attached the line to the master cylinder. I had to slightly enlarge one (and only one) of the existing holes on the floor of the front compartment with a rasp. The hole was for one of the brake lines exiting the bottom of the brake master cylinder. I also used rubber spacers to hold the line in place and keep it from rubbing against the edges of the hole and the adjacent brake line. The red hose is routed through the front box of the chassis. The access holes are at an angle that very difficult to work with. Since the connector on the new hose is bigger, these holes would have to be enlarged. This is what made me decide to keep the red hose in place. Instead I attached the new line to the underneath side of the box using the same kind of clips that were used to hold the brake lines in the same area. I wasn't concerned about the hose being "exposed" in this position. The ground clearance is such, that other areas would scrape first if you were to bottom out before the hose would get damaged. If you bottom out the car this far anyway, you've got bigger problems to worry about. There are metal tabs that are welded along the backbone of the chassis that hold the red hose in place along the length of the car. I used a screwdriver to bend these out (the metal is quite malleable). I then threaded the new line alongside the red hose along this path and bent the tabs back to clamp the line(s) in place. I removed the belly pan, so I could route the line in this area neatly. The pan is very easy to remove. Only about ten screws hold it in place. BTW: I talked to a Lotus mechanic that recommends always removing this pan when removing the oil filter to keep the unavoidable oil spill from collecting on top of it and leaking through all the little holes. My line was the proper length; maybe due to my routing, or the fact it came from a different source, but there was very minimal slack. I then connected the new line to the slave cyclinder and tie-rapped the red hose to the new line along this last bit to keep it from coming loose and flopping around. By keeping the red line in place, I can revert back the old red hose and keep my SS braided hose so I can install it on my next Esprit (whenever that happens). The replacement hose took under an hour to install. The two hardest parts of the job were: 1) figuring out how to jack up the front of the car properly so I could work underneath the front safely. 2) disconnecting the red hose from the master
cyclinder. It was attached very tightly and space is very cramped due to
Bleeding the clutch afterwards took me many frustrating hours. I had just purchased an EZ-Bleed kit and I hadn't figured out how to keep the fluid from leaking by being forced out through the threads of the cap. I finally figured out that the secret was to use two of the supplied washers together. This formed the proper seal to allow me to bleed the system. After this, it really was EZ to do. Karl Franz :-) AIR FILTERS Ed Young writes: > The Wix 46005 filter crosses
to a K&N 33-2522, which measures: 16.75 " in
length, and 5 & 5/16" in width.
Not a huge difference. Anybody feel like measuring their filter and letting the rest of us know which filter to use? Just changed mine and don't want to deal with it for a while........ < Having (almost) caught up with the Lotus mail, I have measured the two filters sitting in my parts cabinet for the Esprit: Coopers AG487 (which was in the car when I bought it): 5 3/8" wide x 16 3/4" long AC PC414 (with all the spare parts I got from the PO. never used): 5 1/4" wide x 16 1/2" long FYI, currently installed in my '88 is a TR7 filter, UNIPART # GFE 1095, bought from Moss Motors (a large BritPart supplier), stock # 071-106. Current price USD $14.95 All filters looked to have the same number of paper pleats. Atwell Haines
By the way, K&N's and similar filters are
freer flowing and help increase top end power... at the expense of low
end torque. Torque is something a stock 907 doesn't have in abundance.
The volume of the air box and the air trunking
between it and the front of the car make up part of the total induction
path length. When you install open filters,
the induction path length is shortened drastically. In loose
terms, a longer length works better at a lower rpm and a shorter
The best solution would be a K&N element inside an airbox. Either a direct replacement for the OEM filter element, or a larger airbox capable of enveloping the usual individual K&N oval filters. That would give better breathing, retain the longer induction path and provide cool induction air. _____________________ From: "Mark Belchamber"
O.K. I've just gone and fitted some replacement K & N air filters on my Eclat - so any of you needing the number, here is EXACTLY what the label on the box says..... Part No. 56-1350
Please note - these are NEW replacement filters (2 x oval, 1 per carb) - NOT the replica of the filter that goes inside the standard air box. I hope this helps someone ! (Feel free to write if you need more info.) Mark One or two people asked to know how I got on, so here goes. 907 Engine in Lotus Elite/Eclat
Special Tools and Equipment . a small 1/2 in AF socket - 3/8
square drive and with thin wall thickness
General Notes I removed the head with both manifolds but without the carbs, with the engine in situ but canted over. I will not detail every step - only things that differ from the manual, or are not self evident, or merit special mention. Some things are best done in a certain order,
so I suggest you follow the given procedure below.
Procedure *** DISCONNECT THE BATTERY !!! *** Remove the distributor to give room to work on the carb nuts (Dellorto carbs); remove the carbs. (It *may* be easier to remove the inlet manifold, I really don't know - your choice). Drain the cooling system and take off all hoses from the connections on the cylinder head. Don't forget the short horizontal one from thermostat housing to the inlet manifold. Undo the exhaust pipe to manifold joint. Place
a block of wood under the sump along the left hand edge of it, place a
jack there. Undo the left hand engine mount underneath. Jack up under the
sump carefully, watching what happens above. It should come up a few inches
then the bellhousing fouls on the scuttle. The bottom of the manifold should
then be about level with the top of the chassis (Elite). Support the sump
securely on blocks.
Remove the cam belt.
Remove the cam housings. For this you need that
slim socket - I had a 3/8 drive 1/2in AF socket that just fitted;
a normal 1/2 in drive one did not, so be careful and allow time to go and
buy the right socket if you find that yours doesn't fit when you get to
this point. When pulling the housings off, you have two problems. The shims,
and the washers.
Double check all wires and hoses are free - incl. temp sender. Remove the head. You may find (depends on options) that the head *just* fouls on the thermostat housing. Mine did. If so, you can remove the water pump; or I found that it fouled by a mere 1mm or so, on the outside of a boss. I relieved it carefully with a file (hence confirming my status as a DPO ...). Note, I filed the boss on the thermo housing, not the head itself. Now for those *big* washers. See the bit in the manual showing a special tool to retain the liners - I did similar with the washers. Put them over the 4 studs shown in the manual and use whatever you can for spacers over the four studs; I found a spark plug socket was ideal. Nip up the cyl head nuts, ensuring each washer engages two liners and that's it. IIRC 2 washers need relieving to miss the locating pins, it's obvious when you see it. Anyway, this needs doing before you turn the crank; and it's easiest to clean the piston tops at TDC so you want to be able to turn the crank. While the head is off, have a good look at the exhaust manifold to pipe studs and replace any that are worn. I'm about to do this; if any break and have to be drilled out, I'll drill it oversize and fit one size larger stud (whatever Steve may say ..... ) The above may look long winded but it isn't when you're doing it; this part of the job went very well. I'm hoping reassembly goes equally as well, but first I have 16 valves to grind in and 16 shims to play with ..... Regards,
Anyone else have the slosh & spill problem? Elite M50 filler necks have no check valve, so fuel hits the caps even under "moderate" cornering... practice runs through the park. I've got new rubber rings in the caps, but the leak appears to be through the center where the sprung plate rides on a center pin. Ken, Are you sure it's the fuel cap that's leaking and not the venting system. With new rubber gaskets, there should be no significant leakage. My Eclat has never leaked, even when autocrossing on sticky race rubber. On the other hand, a friend's Eclat leaks with just mildly aggressive street driving... similar to what you're talking about. The difference in the two Eclats is that mine has a stock fuel plumbing system while his DPO re-plumbed the vent tubing when the original surgical rubber vent tubing gave up (typical Lotus fuel smell problem). His vent is now just a short length of fuel line that goes directly from the vent nipple on the left end of the tank to the vent nipple on the left (only) fuel filler. In a right hand turn, the fuel sloshes left and out of the car. The Elite and Eclat are different in that the Eclat has only one filler, so I'm comparing apples and oranges. But not in one important point. In both cars the tank is vented on the left end, and the hose is routed to the right side of the car before opening up to the atmosphere. If you attach a 1/4 inch hose to the bottom of a gallon jug and fill the jug with water, the water will leak out of the hose. If you lift the end of the hose up above the water level, the water won't leak out. Venting a fuel tank is just like that, only sideways. Tap one end of the tank. Open the hose to the atmosphere well beyond the opposite end of the tank. Obviously, keep the open end of the vent hose above the fuel level. The correct vent routing for a Fed Elite/Eclat is out the left end of the tank, over the top of the tank to the right side of the car, up over the side windows (here the Elite "T's" to the right filler), down the right "A" pillar, into the right foot well, forward into the engine compartment (follow the vacuum line from the reservoir) to the charcoal canister on the right inside fender. The important part of all that is that the vent line attaches to the left side of the tank and exits the far right side of the car, well beyond the right end of the tank. In a right turn, the fuel sloshes left, but the open end of the tube is way off to the right, so no fuel leaks out. In a left turn, the fuel sloshes away from the vent nipple. Again, no leak. Even if you don't want to route a line up to the front-mounted charcoal canister, you should at least route it to the right side of the Elite. First, connect both fuel filler vent nipples together with a straight length of tubing. Then "T" the vent tube into that interconnect tube as close to the right fuel filler as possible. Eclat owners (one filler) who don't want to use the charcoal plumbing should route the vent line all the way to the right side of the car well beyond the right end of the tank, loop it around something solid, and then do a 180° turn back to the left fuel filler. If your car's vent lines are correct and the filler
cap is indeed leaking....
Regards,
I am having problems with throttle response on a 907 engine fitted with Cosworth pistons. At engine speeds of less than 2000RPM the vehicle will act as though the brakes have been applied when opening the throttle for sharp acceleration. Above 2000RPM the vehicle feels as though it would accelerate faster than the Schumacher brothers and never misses a beat. The problem has been somewhat improved by a carburettor rebuild including all parts being cleaned in an ultrasonic bath. Further improvement has been made by retarding the ignition timing but this is unsatisfactory as it robs power. Current carb jetting is as follows: Idle: 7850.1 - 55
A quirk of the symptoms is in that if the throttle is pressed more than once in quick succession, the hessitation is reduced. The acceleration cicuit appears sound and meets the volume delivery requirement to number of pumps. All this said, it would appear that the idle circuits are lean. Can anyone help with jet selection for todays low octane fuels. Federal settings are as follows: Idle: 7850.6 - 56 (Less air more fuel)
Can anyone help before I spend vast amounts of time road testing. Regards
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One thing I forgot to mention....
If you haven't already tried it might be worth
trying a colour-tune. I found I got a much better idea of what was going
on when I used it.
There is one thing that still intrigues me and that is what the air bleed and locking nut assembly is for situated between the cold start drilling and choke. Also, how much did you pay for Jets ? (approx). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
not sure what the other assy you are refering to is. I've got a dellorto manual at home so I will try and dig it out and find out what all the bits do again. Toby
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I have just found my dellorto manual. Not suprisingly
I can't work out what you mean by "the air bleed and locking nut assembly
is for situated between the cold start drilling and choke."
fwiw, the Contact developments price list shows idle jets at £2.75 each and the holders at £5 each. Simon is right, re-jetting will not do you mpg much good. It might also cause problems at MOT time but this can be solved by careful adjustment of the mixture screws. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I note the issue of flat spot etc and have found
that this really in all instances is down to carb balancing venturi to
venturi not just the main coupling between them.What you require is 4 mercury
manometers which actually fit via factory adapators in each barrel.This
actually measures the vacuum between the carb butterfly and inlet values.
The actual air box etc stays in place.When the engine is started and idling
4 columns of mercury will individually raise to a height in i,e mm of mercury.What
I have found is that all the loti i have owned are out of balance.What
you have to achieve is 4 columns at the same height and to achieve this
read the service notes.Please note before you touch any screws spray wd40
on all the o rings to check for air leaks etc, if the vacuum increases
you have an air leak on that barrel(o rings),do not forget the servo take
off also.
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Very useful info, thanks!
I have balanced my carbs using a gunson carb-balancer.
You are right, they don't work too well as they restrict the airflow a
lot and change the mixture completely.
Toby By Simon Allan:
I've had a look at taking it all out recently
and it is straight forward except .........
can anyone tell me (I should buy the manual really) dai harris
Here is an update on removing the seats, my passenger side seat came out without problem just by holding the top of the bolt into the runner. The drivers side was another matter. I think I found the correct way after some messing about. You should remove the seat from the runners before removing the runners. You will find 4xM6 allen bolts on the underside of the seat subframe (in the top runners at the front and rear of the seat subframe). Remove these first the runner may then be removed with a 1/2" open ended spanner to hold the bolt. Easy when you know how! Mark
1. Take out seat by unbolting the four bolts under the car. Will try Mark suggestion for the drivers side. They come out quite easily. 2. Rip out old carpet but do not pull so hard that you pull out sound proofing as well. Some of the carpet is tucked in under the centre console trim. This has to be removed. 3. Remove map holder and other insert piece behind it. Map holder has 4 screws, other piece is stuck down with double sided tape and comes out quite easily. Undo screw that is revealed by taking out the map holder and remove the gear knob. This piece can then be slid forward and removed. The front piece either side of the gear knob is only held down with Velcro. Remove the rear passenger seats by undoing the two screws that are located where the backs of your legs would be if you were sitting in them. Then unscrew the two screws that old the backs of the seats in, located at the very bottom of the seats (you need to do both sides by the way). You can now remove the centre tunnel cover by pulling it towards with front of the car. Watch out for the bar that goes under the Hand Break. Now remove the two screws either side of the console located at about the end of where the Hand Break is. These will allow you to lift this area enough to slip the carpet in. Now undo the two screws hidden by the carpet behind the door posts (near the buttons that turn the interior lights on and off). Lastly remove the seat belt bolts from both sides. Its very easy there are no lose nuts. You have now removed enough of the trim to get the old carpet out and the new ones in. If you wanted to do the job correctly you need to remove the entire dash (no thanks). As the dash is now loose you can push and pull the carpet enough to get it in. I stated by cleaning all the surfaces of the old bits of carpet that were still stuck to the car and then practised laying the carpet without glue so I knew where it all went. I decided that the first piece that should go in is the long piece that runs under the centre console. It's the hardest to do and because the dash was still in place I decided to fit the carpet under the dash and apply the glue whilst the carpet was in situ. This may be unconventional but it worked really well. I then fitted the back piece, the door side piece, the pieces that goes under the runners and then the piece in the foot well. The top mats had Velcro so didn't need sticking down. One last point, there are two plastic covers that protect the electric's in both foot wells. I removed these a few days before. They're a little tricky and need to dry over night with some rubber bands to keep the carpet in place. I will let you know if I encounter any other issues
when I attempt the driver's side next weekend (assuming its not raining).
Grant By J.Bond:
It is getting colder and darker here in Germany and I am using my front fog-lights more frequently now. But just two days ago they refused to do their service! The switch will still illuminate if depressed. I have checked the fuse no.19, everything is in order. I then tried to source the front fog-light relay, but have not found it. Would anybody out there be so kind to give me
a small piece of advice what to do? <8o/
Yes you were right, I have swapped the switches,
and yes it was the switch. As I had no idea where to buy that switch here
in Germany, I opened it up and cleaned the contacts. They were somehow
covered by some gunk. Something like 'TORREX' was printed on the switch.
Accessing this switch was a nightmare! I wonder which confused mind had designed this (yes, I know it's from Toyota)! <:o\ Regards, JB |
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