tonyp

Well, sad to say thats my car. She's now been sold to an enthuisiast in Belgium to add to his Lotus collection. For what its worth I tried Pistonheads, & got a pretty poor quality response eg 'Will you take

This should work ...

Many years ago I was given a new company car - Saab 9000 Carlsson. (It replaced a Sierra 4x4). Had it for 4 years. Lovely, incredible acceleration, totally wild & unpredictable handling but all in all a nice car. At 98,000 miles, and well out of warranty the differential exploded. With little argument, Saab replaced it for free. That was impressive. A sad loss. Maybe it can come good again when the world starts up again.

Mechanic who hepled with my rear wheel bearing said he'd never seen so many bust springs before. Worst ones apparently are 7 series BMW's because the broken spring then shreds the tyre ..... Bit worrying when even new fiesta's & Peugeot 207 etc. break them regularly.

Fair point there Buddsy, although I reckon the difference in ride height between the series is down to US & EEC regulations. Must admit our roads are so badly potholed at the moment flinging lotti around just aint possible, going down the Sedbergh road into Kendal for the Sunday papers a bit like going on a military assault course. Still, just an idea to while away the winter nights ......

Putting an S2 front bumper onto an S3 was discussed a little while ago - mooted quite feasible with little or no change. There might be a bit of a gap between the bumper & the mid line strip - you could add a bit which would lead inevitably to the even bigger job of replacing the lot - but it would 'lighten' the front a bit. There was an S2 front bumper for sale somewhere for around

Can't find any pics - I think they're on another memory stick somewhere - but my D3 was excellent in the dry snow we had in December, even up up 6 - 8 '' deep with 2' drifts (you just bash through). Wet snow - completely rubbish. Just the laws of physics I guess. Same applies to more general off road stuff, rock, dry(ish) mud fine, wet grass, slimy mud, rubbish. Best car for wet snow / mud was my Citroen Dyane of 1973 vintage. Tall skinny tyres, low weight, little power just like An SI/II/III. Must admit I thoroughly enjoyed my D2 of a few years ago, not the best ride on-road though by modern standards. The D3 is a tremendous road car, although a bit pricey & smart to bash through bushes, scuff against rocks etc. Mighty fine at towing a 3.5 ton boat though (as was the D2). Next car will probably have to be a Citroen C1 sadly. PS had no snow at all of any note since Christmas, up here in the lakes. Shame.

Well, I took the upright off the car & took it to a local machine shop along with the new bearing & cone washer. They destroyed the old bearing & also the big stub axle knut they had to use so much pressure. Making a bed on the press the biggest difficulty. The new one went in ok apparently. I just refitted the upright, got it all torqued up properly & all fine now. Cost me

Just popped one into the rear n/s, bought from SJ, made in France stamped on the side I think. Reckon that nut (the 200 ft lb one) comes from a Triumph 1300 ?

My kind of guy - I'll fly with you anytime ! Thanks all, we'll see how it goes on for a bit

Lotti's had a rest for the past month or so having a nice new rear wheel bearing fitted (rear n/s - full of water & a bit rusty / noisy) but all has been put back together & properly torqued tight. Time to fire her up. Jump in, key in, all looks good, hey, hang on, no tikky tikky, carbs are bound to need priming, whats up ? Jump out, grovel underneath & fiddle with fuel pump wires, check fuses, no joy. Not a bad connection then. Recall Tiger days (twin SU pumps) & give pump a good bashing with fist. Ouch, bits of skin everywhere. (next stage would have been a bashing with a hammer ....) Hurray, lots of tikky tikky, jump back in, fires up, no probs. Clearly internal contacts are dirty / on the way out. New pump needed ? any ideas when ? Never had this before, although she's usually driven at least once a week. Presumably a reasonably easy job to put a new pump in, although I haven't read the bit in the manual yet, it all seems pretty accessible, just need to get the tanks empty. Anyone had similar ?

Nice tale, envious of your alpine trip. I can echo your comments re comfort on long trips, I did 600 miles in one day last year whth no aches pains or other discomfort other than an excess of exhilaration. Oh yes, and slightly ringing ears. Hope to do MSA Euro Classic this year, Santander to Paris / Cherbourg. Thanks for posting on this dismal damp & dark day.......

Well, I vote to keep the sunroof .....Cos I've got one, although it does blend in pretty well with dark blue. A godsend when its sunny so 10/10 for practicality. If I had

About 12 years ago I fixed the one on my Stag after taking it off & taking it to pieces I remember it being a very simple job. Unfortunately I can't remember what that was ! The hardest bit was certainly removing & re-installing - even worse on the Esprit. Incidentally mine does the same - motor whirrs away, nothing happening. Its such a beast to remove & listening to the radio does not go hand in hand with Esprit driving so it will stay as it is ...