Steve4012

That looks like it. Here's the link from Ebay UK. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123858843505

I've now replaced the foam in both seats and it's made a huge difference to the feel of the interior. The drivers seat foam had broken and the metal frame was protruding through and now I know why I always felt I was sitting in a hole where the seat foam had dropped and sagged. The drivers seat came out so well that I simply had to do the passenger seat also as that was then made to look tatty! Obviously the temptation to do the rest of the interior was too great whilst both seats were out so off came the door cards, tunnel sides and rear bulkhead panel. All of which received new foam and a damn good clean. A very worthwhile task if anyone's thinking about doing it! Ps the blue high density 'firm' foam on ebay is a perfect match in firmness to the rest of the seat.

Hi Andy, Thanks for that and that's exactly the plan. Covers off, cut out any bad foam and find the right density foam to replace/ repair and reshape. There's loads of vids on YouTube on this and looks quite a fun task. My passenger seat bolsters are in really good shape so I can use those as a guide for the worn drivers seat foam.

Thanks Paul.

Many thanks for your replies Carbuff and Paul. Good to hear it's not too difficult to get the cover off which I'll do and see what the situation is with the foam and see if I can do or talk to an upholsterer.

Has anyone replaced the foam in their seats? The actual material of the cloth interior of my dry sump is in really good condition but the foam has degraded inside the bottom section of the drivers seat in particular. I haven't got round to even looking at how the covers come off yet but if anyone has any info it would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve.

I'd be interested too Fabian. Thanks.

Nice pictures @Tocus the silver one looks quite different now with correct coloured bumpers, mirrors and decals.

Really pleased for you Dave, enjoy!

Lotusbits advertise dry sump wheel studs on Ebay. Not sure if they're the same but they may be worth contacting.

It's possible Fabian. The needle valves were replaced about 18 months ago and look OK with no obvious groove where they seat. They move freely on the float pivot as well. Once back together I'll switch the fuel pump on and check inside the main barrels of the carbs for any drips with the plenum off.

http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/1048-setting-dhla-dellorto-dellorto-float-fuel-level/ I've seen this link posted quite a few times and thought it was commonly done...

Float heights: how does everyone set these? Simply set to 14.5 - 15mm measuring between float and gasket held vertically as per the manual or then go on to use the sideways technology method of measuring 27mm from top of fuel stack to fuel level in the bowls?

The oil analysis came back as fuel contaminated rather than coolant so that's good news. The oil has a dilution of 4.36% with an acceptable limit of 4% so a fraction over but with 0 miles all should be fine internally especially as the oil pressure was just lower than I'm used to seeing rather than none at all. I believe it was the many times over starting and driving 30 yards to test my handbrake adjustments that have caused this along with some fueling issues. I've always used .45 idle jets so I'm going revert to either standard .40 or .42 and see how it runs. Looking forward to using Dave's @LOTUSMAN33 test rig for pump jet calibration and see if these are supplying excessive fuel. I've changed the oil once already but even this new oil has turned black straight away so I'm going to change it again once the fueling is sorted. One problem with the dry sump is that you have to run the car for the oil tank to fill before this oil can then be drained from the tank and this seems to leave a fair bit of oil unchanged. I'm thinking of disconnecting the main oil return pipe to the engine from the tank so I don't have to start the car and this will hopefully remove more oil. Has anyone tried this before on a dry sump?

Thank you Dave. I have a normal plastic fuel container. If you think yours will be easier to use with the valve fitted and you wouldn't mind sending it that would be great.

Brilliant, many thanks Dave will do now. I have a Carbtune 👍

I think you're right Andy. I've just topped up the carbs with fuel and left off the car on clean cardboard and no leaks. So I think I'm looking at fuel delivery quantity and/or pump jet operation. When this all started I was adjusting the handbrake which needed a lot of 20 yard journeys up my steep driveway to test and maybe starting the car so many for tiny journeys had an effect. @Lotusfab do you still have @LOTUSMAN33 pump jet test set up and would it be OK for me to borrow Dave if so? Thanks for the figures C43.

Cheers Fab. I tested the fuel pressure a few days ago and was actually slightly low at 3.5psi so I upped to 4psi just to make it on spec. Agreed re prefer fuel contamination to coolant!

Thanks for the replies. I'm making progress (I think). I'm 99% certain the oil is fuel contaminated. I've sent a sample off to confirm. Coolant pressure test holds steady at 11psi along with previous negative combustion test. I've also put fuel and coolant separately into a new oil samples and the colour and smell of the oil from the car matches the fuel sample. Taking the top off the carbs the fuel in the bowl is low after the car has been standing. I belive it's draining when the car is not running and I've since discovered a number of threads called 'Dellorto drip' which I'm still researching. As a test last night I manually topped both bowls up with fuel and checked the level this morning. The front carb level had reduced by 8mm and the rear 5mm. The tops had been put back on the prevent evaporation. This can't be right can it?? I've now removed the carbs and there is fuel evidence in the intake, in the plenum and on the block. Can this be draining whilst sitting overnight? Any thoughts appreciated.

Many thanks Andy, great idea. I've ordered a test kit. I'll not rush into taking the engine apart and this test along with a hot compression test and finding out why the oil is thin should give me some info to go on.

Hi Jon. I had the radiator out 2 years ago and it was quite new with no debris in the fins and I flushed through also so pretty confident on that. There is no mayonnaise on the oil tank cap. Yes as mentioned above I have done a leak test (twice) and both were negative.

Nope no thrashing Dave! 😆 I've been losing a little coolant but I did have a leak in a coolant pipe which I replaced along with the thermostat so it's difficult to tell if it being lost there or not. The car drives faultlessly, no hesitation or misfires of any kind anywhere in the rev range. I'll do the oil which will hopefully bring the oil pressure back up and run to temp and retest and go from there. Cheers, Steve.

Cheers Dave. If it needs a refresh that's ok and I'll get it done. I'm just mindful I don't want to start dismantling when the problem still maybe elsewhere. I'm tempted to simply renew the oil so I can then run up to temp and redo the compression test. Also try and find out what's in the oil to make its viscosity lower, be it coolant, fuel or whatever else may have happened to it.

Hi Dave, The car has done 117k miles but the engine is a bit of an unknown quantity. It's had the main bearing panel mod as I saw this when I had the crank out to repair the spigot bearing/ input shaft issue. I replaced the main bearings and big end shells at that time (the originals were still pretty good) but the top end I don't know about. I'm not sure how much the readings would increase with a hot engine.

Just done a compression test. Car was cold, throttle fully open: Cylinders 1-4 113,115,111,109 psi