910Esprit

Interesting, looks like your pump jets spray vertically downwards - maybe that was a change with the introduction of the DHLA45's fitted to the HC motors. As long as the volume and spray pattern is similar, you'll be fine. But it is a worthwhile check to make sure the volume matches the spec in the workshop manual (but thats obviously not your current issue)

BBC and the rest of the MSM. Can anyone think of a UK leader that was found guilty of lying to MPs, breaking Covid rules on more than one occasion, financial impropriety, resigned under very 'fishy' circumstances, arrested as part of a criminal investigation - That must be Boris Johnson.... Oh no, wait it was Nicola Sturgeon - Move on, nothing to see here.

Nope - thats not right! You should have a clear jet (like a good water pistol!) that squirts out of the choke towards the inlet valves. But I'm assuming the float chamber is full of fuel for the test?

Bear in mind that its likely the bores will have catastrophic amounts of fuel sitting in them (or drained into the sump....) Take the plugs out and spin the motor over - with the fuel pump disabled via the inertia switch to get rid of as much fuel as possible. Also consider changing your oil if dipstick high or oil smells of fuel. Not sure you need to start looking at valves etc unless its hydrolocked and somehow stripped the cambelt - but that wont be the case... Its 100% a carb issue - The possibilities: A mechanical issue (eg a crack in the body - but I've never heard of that) You have pumped the throttle a 1000 times - but that would affect both carbs The float valve is not functioning/seating correctly - or perhaps the o-ring is omitted from the valve seat (or is it a washer - can't remember!). (floats could also leak in the old days, but don't think that is a 'thing' with dellortos) Finally, fuel is bypassing the normal pilot/mains circuits when fuel pressure is present - EG if the valves for the accelerator pump circuit were not present or assembled incorrectly. With the carb off the car, assuming the float bowl is full, fully deflect the linkage and you should see the 2 pump jets spray a very neat jet of fuel for a metre or two! If not, that suggests an issue with that circuit. I'd also jerry rig the offending carb off the car to see if you can recreate the problem off the car, with elevated fuel pressure, shaking it around etc. But even if you cant, I'd be rebuilding it again!

Think you are on the right lines. You are pulling in air from somewhere. could be the throttle is sticky as you say, or maybe a leak has been introduced at the spindle

Here's my theory... One of the pump jet valves (the ball & weight under the top cover) were not seated correctly, or had some debris in there and you were forcing fuel out of the pump jets

Hmmm but that wouldn't dump fuel via the plenum? - However, its probably worth checking the diaphragms under those covers for completeness. The nut position on the rod is the pump volume adjustment. Good adjustment is material to smooth acceleration, so I would check that out as they look imbalanced. There are posts on here how to do it. I used a fairly crude but accurate set up, others have made more sophisticated versions of the same thing.

I wonder if you could just use a proprietary slotted spring pin (aka roll pin), which is exactly what it looks like (with any chamfer from the ends removed)

Not even sure its illegal to buy.. Search 'Cream Deluxe' on FB marketplace....

Double check you haven't been provided the post 84 versions for pre-84 suspension - The hole for the post 84 is smaller as it uses a thinner dedicated ARB. I don't recall having any real problem getting mine into place on a cleaned-up ARB

You are ramping up the drama Fabian! Mine has never failed to start or get me to and from a destination in in about 40k miles and 26 years of ownership... A well maintained Lotus is a perfectly reliable thing.

Just seen this - I simply used a generic flat copper washer from a 'multipack' it formed to the flare and sealed perfectly.

I reckon if you built a 'new' car entirely from brand new replacement/pattern parts it would be the biggest crock of s**t ever!! 🙃 Like you, the non-standard thermostat is worrying, but odd why the car then runs OK on the road. Maybe you need to interrogate the previous owner - There are 2 possibilities: Either one of the new parts have introduced the problem, or someone has spent a lot of money chasing this problem but has still not resolved it.... NB - Find another LC owner, leave the 2 cars idling while comparing temperatures at all points of the system

Wonder if it would be worth temporarily bypassing the rad, just to rule out a blockage there?

Dont worry about it, as long as the distributor has been timed correctly and the cams and crank marks have the correct alignment, it makes not a jot of difference.... NB I'd personally redo it as I like things to be 'just so'

Err no - Stop driving until you have identified and fixed it!

Am I allowed to prefer the one in the background? (Not the VW)

Have you sold it?

I'd be interested....

The diagnosis was the easy bit.... If you can be bothered, a complete factory reset maybe an easy option. Even if you cant resolve the issue, an SSD should effectively mask the issue as the computer will be much faster as it no longer has to physically read/write to the HDD to manage the problem - i.e. the problem will persist, but it can deal with it faster!

Have you checked the Performance tab on Task Manager? Based on your description it sounds as though disk usage could be exceeding 100% for excessive lengths of time during startup.

I'm mainly in Manchester at the mo, so not that close - Not sure about Hull area members - can't recall seeing many!

Not particularly - try your dizzy parts first and see how it goes

Yep they look fine - but the originals would have been a nice blue colour! supposedly higher resistance, but I wouldn't worry about that at all NB - If you decide to change the coil it needs to be something like a lucas DLB198 - Not just a generic 'points' type coil

Hi Paul - The distributor type is a modified Lucas 45D4, which were used on countless british cars. Any car shop (or Ebay) could match the dizzy cap on sight. Plenum is the 'square' aluminium casting that is attached to the outboard side of the carbs