ThatsMrBowlheadtoyou

In the end I went with a typical bearing grease recommended by my local engineering shop.

White lithium grease seems to be recommended for bearings too. I like the idea of this because it can be sprayed deep in around the ball bearings and takes a good temperature range. Any thoughts? Peter: I was under the impression they're not designed to be re-greased? Is it possible to dissemble/grease them once pressed in with seals fitted both sides? I assumed they were basically an early attempt at a sealed-for-life bearing.

Hi All, I've decided to move my questions into this section because there are rather a lot of them scattered across the sections and there will probably be quite a lot more. Soon I'll write to introduce the car better and post some (usually poor) photos because I realise it's always more interesting to get a feel for what someone is working on and see it progress. Today I've just collected my rear hubs with new bearings pressed in: not a job I felt comfortable to tackle despite the manual and others assuring it's easy to boil the hubs and drop cold new bearings in. I'm glad I gave it to the engineers: they found one hub was a little worn so could address that with the correct Loctite to keep the bearing tight. All I'm asking now is what type of grease to pack into the bearings before fitting the oil seals?

Hi, I'm hoping someone might have a buckle for the RePa rear lap belts? -see photo. I've got both retractors but only 1 buckle so was hoping to reinstate matching rather than get a whole set of new lap belts which may/may not fit so well as these original ones.

Hello, has anyone tried replacing the gearbox propshaft seal with the engine and gearbox in situ? My thinking is dropping the final drive to draw the propshaft backwards out of the gearbox and then, hopefully, being able to reach in the gap in the chassis just behind the gearbox and (somehow) yanking out the old seal then replace. Whilst not a quick process, it seems infinitely preferable to removing the engine/gearbox but it would nice to know if someone else has experience before I try! -S1 Eclat BTW.

Ideally I'd delete this topic but can't see how to. I've gone with a new type of servo so am no longer searching, thanks all.

Thanks. I'm assuming the hoses you're using are compatible with R134a?

I thought I'd share what I've learnt rebuilding my S1 Eclat Beans gearbox speedo drive because there's scatterings of information here but I've not found anything like a guide so I hope this covers most aspects. My drive had the usual snapped drive cable/rod from the angle drive into the gearbox. Upon dismantling, in my case I think this was due to hard, dry grease seizing the gears. I'm aware others have different experiences. To replace the rod I bought a 2nd hand MGC angle drive from Ebay. Others have cut down old speedo cables to re-fit but I didn't understand how the rod is held within the gear for one thing (soldered? crimped?) Admittedly I bought the MG drive thinking it was exactly the same but upon arrival realised the brass knurled nut is smaller. Otherwise it is identical. However, there are differing MG drives so examine photos carefully. There are 'new' MG drives easily available too. At the time of writing I paid £20 from eBay and it seems a 'new' MG drive can be found for about £45 rather than the £140+ asked for the Lotus version with the larger knurled nut. My plan was to remove the gear and rod fixed into it from the MG drive and fit into the Lotus drive. The rod length is exactly the same (but again, do your due diligence first). The gear and rod are held in by the large Welch plug. Some plugs (my Lotus) have 3 tiny crimps: the MG unit plug was just pressed in. The crimps can be fairly easily knocked back with a chisel or sharp screwdriver. Applying a little heat to the casing will ease the plug. You shouldn't need much: I heated the MG drive casing until the oil within started oozing past it, indicating enough expansion to let it release. Turn the unit over and the gear shaft end can be tapped through which will push the Welch plug and the dished spacer behind it out. I found a socket that would just fit over the end of the gear shaft without pinching the brass ring around it. If you can't find a socket or similar, a drift, small punch or even a small screwdriver against the edge of the shaft will work; it is hardened steel so can take a bit of abuse -just try not to damage the brass ring -which can't. It should all come apart quite easily. With the Lotus drive I didn't even heat, (torch ran out of gas) but I had to be a bit rough. The other gear and shaft which connects to the speedo cable was tight and stiff. Liberal carb cleaner and heating to melt the old dry grease within released this without having to dismantle but presumably, the small Welch plug on the unit can be removed in the same way and probably more easily if need be. The geared shaft inside the gearbox must be pulled and examined: mine was undamaged, supporting the theory that the angle drive seized as opposed to any other cause. Re-assembly is, in the immortal words, "reverse of the dismantling procedure". Get as much oil into the drive as you can through the small filling screw: it will be impossible to get to this once fitted, which probably explains why the drive seizes after 40 years or so. The attached poor quality photo doesn't particularly help except to show the dismantled parts: on the left the rebuilt Lotus drive, on the right the remains of the MG drive, snapped rod and old gear shaft. With the socket there at top right I used to drift out the gear shaft, dished washer and Welch plug.

Hi Filip, perhaps you can help me: I've fitted an STC1816 servo and a Landrover Series 3 master cylinder, bought separately. I cut off the pedal rod eye and welded on the adjustable fork as you did. However, once fitted there was a lot of travel on the pedal. I adjusted the fork to take up all of the play of the rod, just leaving a little before before the servo starts operating, hissing with a little pressure. However, there's still a lot of pedal travel before the brakes start to work. I've bled through. I'm wondering if I should continue adjusting the fork- knowing that the servo is under some operation? Or should I try and adjust the other threaded rod the other side: which operates the master cylinder? That seems to be Loctited in place and will be difficult to free up. It's difficult to tell if there's any play between those two also. Did you have similar issues? Maybe I just need to bleed again but it seems to be more of a problem of mechanical free play rather than brake efficiency, once they are operating.

No problem, thanks for looking. I've gone with the Landrover STC1816 (see other comments I have on this).

Pete, I hope you can pick up on this some weeks later now. My A/C expert says the problem is getting modern connectors which fit the delanair compressor but also have enough room between the compressor and starter motor (I think). He insists there's nothing available and insists he must use the original connectors -he is having problems getting those apart it seems. I trust his opinion but wonder if he's really looked around enough. Could you possibly get me a couple photos of your compressor and connectors onto it so I can show him?

On my browser, this IS the wanted section...?

Wanted: a brake servo for an S1 Elite/Eclat if anyone has one around that might be decent? It's worth an ask to recycle one gathering dust on a shelf 🙂 If not I'll go down the Landrover route I expect.

Hi Pete, I'd be very interested in your old servo if you think it works? Mine is definitely not.

Thank you Pete, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I think I have the Lotus system: the valve, I believe, is just under the centre of the dash, drivers side.