pmth95

Got a new metal piston of the correct early size from PNM. Will consider replacing it with Nylatron in the future. Tensioner ready to go back in the car

Looking for an S1 airbox (parts 1 thru 5) Would consider one needing restoration. Cheers, Patrick (Metro Detroit)

Yes, it was time for a rebuild. Wonder how those bushes disappeared...

According to post #3 in this thread on LotusTalk, the metal piston would indicate a very early tensioner. In addition to having the metal piston my tensioner had a rubber cap over the piston. Might have to consider making a Nylatron piston, or sourcing a later type assembly.

Car is 105H, engine is from 261H. Ordered a rebuild kit for my Automatic Tensioner. The Nylatron Piston in the kit is both larger and longer than the original metal piston. The only reference on the tensioner is A907E1141. Are there different versions of the tensioner?

Can someone shed some light on this front bar below the Anti-Roll bar on the early G-Cars (picture saved from the internet some time ago). My early S1 (105H) car doesn't have such a bar. Was it introduced on the S2s as a re-inforcement of the front end of some sort? If so is it worth considering adding?

With the exhaust removed is was easier to insert a long screw driver and with a little leverage the top mount moved back to its original position and damper slid right out. Car still had original Armstrongs, 3 of them surprisingly decent, the fourth one near the exhaust has 0% dampening. Time to hunt for replacements, I've read so many threads on the topic and still can't decide....

This is the rear damper on the driver’s side near the exhaust. All bolts are removed, spring is compressed. Because the top damper mount shifted towards the rear of the car, it now prevents the damper from sliding out. I am preparing to try and cut the central bush sleeve. I figure that is replaceable should i end up keeping the dampers. Anyone other ideas?

Found this older post from 2011, where owner mentions his car came with adjustable ones from factory but with a set of fixed ones to replace the adjustable ones. I will be looking at those, thanks

Started stripping the suspension on my early Federal S1 (105H). Does anyone else have these adjustable rear lower links? Are these factory or replaced afterwards? The poly bushing is gone and the rose joint on the other end has play in it. I am thinking of going back to fixed rear arms.

Yes both sides have the issue. Have not tried any solution yet, hunting down a gearbox leak….

It does seem like the plate acts as a steering stop. I will try greasing it. Might have to learn to back-off, even just so slightly from full locked position when maneuvering.

When i first test drove 105H (S1) I had heard a loud creak, when backing out of an inclined driveway with steering wheel at full lock. I just now figured out the source of the creak: the vertical link touching at full lock the angled plate on the lower wishbone. With any movement of the suspension there is movement between the vertical link and the wishbone as shown by the wear pattern on plate. What next? Grease the plate at a minimum, anything else i am missing?

Yes these do look like the ones i have

So i did a little google research and there is effectively two types of seat belt retractors. 1) weighted pendulum: this will lock if weight is moved forward in a collision 2) centrifugal clutch: this will lock when seat belt is yanked hard https://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/seatbelt3.htm The Kangol retractors in my S1 are the weighted pendulum type. This explains why seat belt doesn’t lock when yanked.

So the single bolt holding the retractor is visible on the picture, deep inside the plastic cover...duh! As soon as I loosen the bolt the retractor starts working again (locking when yanked) As soon as I tighten the bolt the retractor stops working. I wonder if it is because the car has the front lifted up on jacks and this puts the retractors at an angle. I'll keep investigating, might be a while still before I can get the car level again. Thanks for the inputs on the potential sources.

Discovered that neither of my retractors lock the seat belt when yanked hard (like on every other car i have owned). 1) Are the bolts holding the retractors on the engine side under the plastic cover or are they behind the bulkhead trim? 2) What is a good source for new seat belts?

@plumdeplakmuis That doesn’t look like standard engine number that start with AC77 for the Federal US cars (Link). A quick google search on your number didn’t show much.

Yes that is what I ended up doing (Removing the old filters).

See the very beginning if this video. Shows how to set accelerator pump Not sure if the number of pushes on the accelerator is the same for the Esprit (google?), but the method for measuring works the same

@plumdeplakmuis

@lotus-62 Not sure about the heater. I bought the car that way. Will be looking into it, but have focused the initial work on the carbs, steering rack rebuild, alternator rebuild and power window switches (relays). I want to get the car back on the road in time for Spring.

@drdoom: The headlamp lifts are not original, they were done by then owner Don Sievenpiper back in the early 80s. They do seem to work fine and is one area of the car I have not looked into in detail.

Brought the hood to Jeff’s Fiberglass Repair, West Jefferson Av in Ecorse on monday, had it back on Friday and re-installed on Sunday. Seems like quality work, hood is much sturdier. In an effort to avoid this happening again I added two 18.22in 15lbs struts to hold the hood up replacing the original latch (McMaster-Carr PN 9416K18). Not “original” but if it can prevent the hood from breaking again. Makes for a very smooth opening of the hood.

In the DHLA45 rebuild kit I have, the new float needle valve is larger than original but has a smaller input and can no longer accept the original plastic filter (discontinued btw). I could: 1) Drill out the input side of the new Valve seat to accept original filter 2) Install new Needle valve without original filter. Any advice on which is better? Thanks, Patrick