RodJ

Well I finally got to investigate this mis alignment. I also noticed that the V belts weren't In line either so took the bottom pulley off. Yes the washer behind the the cam belt drive was misplaced. When I tried on the bench to get the washer to fit on the shoulder of the sprocket it proved impossible as the hole was out of true. A quick session on the lathe fixed that and now the v belts are inline. The belt on the oil pump/ distributor drive pulley now has the belt central but the cam pulleys are running on the outside edge although there is a full tooth now engaging. No lateral movement on these pulleys. Thanks for the advice Peter. Another question. How do you know when you have the correct tension on the cam belt. The workshop manual talk about a special tool that is to used. Is there another method

Have finally fixed the elusive miss which happened up to 3000 revs. After trying to track manifold air leaks even by using the old mechanics trick of spraying it with CRC and waiting for a rise in idle revs it was all to no avail . after checking compressions which ranged from165 to 170, I decided to take the distributor off thinking it may be sticky weights (43D) Looking inside noticed that there was no air gap between the lobs . In fact they were rubbing. Consulted the repair manual and found they were factory set and needed no adjusting. Luckily it gave me a gap setting, so I set it to 11thou or .275mm. On road test the miss was I would say 98% gone, which I can live with and a the engine was a lot more lively , Is this a common problem ?

I have noticed while doing other maintanence that the cam belt is running very close to or slightly off ( 1 to2 mm) the front edge of both cam pulleys. It seems to have the right alignment on the distributor drive. It is a blue belt. Is this worth worrying about. 83 Excel

I understand that Lotus uses parts that are used on other makes of cars. On my 83 Excel, the rear ones although not leaking are looking and feeling a bit tired. They are coil overs. Any suggestions for replacements from other makes. Prefer not to import from Britain as frieght is horrendous from Britain to NZ at the moment

John You are correct. Consulted my workshop manual and some flaps are activated by vacuum and one is activated by cable. Replaced a piece of vacuum hose that was previously just slipped over the end of the original plastic pipe with the correct size so cured the original problem of air leaking in. Rod

Thanks for your reply John, but my car is an Excel and are pretty sure heater controls are cable controlled. Will check again

I have 2 vacuum hoses running off the intake manifold. The back one naturally suppliers vacuum to the brake booster, but the front 1 is a bit of a mystery as the light pop up is operated by electric. I have been chasing vacuum leaks. The hose looks like 3/8 then at the front of the bonnet there is a plastic pipe fitted into it with a hose clamp holding them together. What is the purpose of this hose. I have pinced the pipe off with a clamp and the lights still work. It has also slightly decreased idle revs. Thinking about disconecting and blanking off manifold port.

The ongoing sarga on the voltage regulator. It is working intermittently so have ordered a new one. The existing one is rusty on the outside and the inner coil seems to be covered in a white powder. After a period of running both guages start reading hard over to the right

Yep. Earthing was the problem. Took the regulator which was bolted to the back of the temp guage, apart and cleaned up the earth stap which connects to the outer casing and everything is working as it should be. By the way the oil guage is mechanical

Thanks Keith. Looks like behind the instrument panel

Thankyou everybody for your replies. Next question is where the voltage regulator is located.

Armstrong shock repairs are problematic. I also own a MGB and when I enquired about replacements was told by my supplier who has both Reconditioned Armstrong and telescopic shocks about half the reconditioned are returned due to being faulty. Fitted telescopic which didnt affect ride height. A conversion kit was supplied to fit the telescopic

My fuel and temp guages move up and down in unison. I have just bought my 83 Excel in extremely tidy condition. I was told by previous owner that the fuel guage always reads low by quarter of the guage. The temp guage is always in the cold region, but occasionally they both rise and the temp reads around 90 degrees where it should run. This rise usually occures when on a long run. Is it coincidence that it happens together or is there a common link. Looking at the wiring diagram they are hooked in series ie one to the other. Is there a voltage stabiliser in the line somewhere