S1 Project car - part 2 - the continuation

[Lotusfab]

40 minutes ago, skiing said:

I switched mine to LED brake lights to sort this - mine used to burn out fairly regularly... (well it happened I think three times in my ownership)...

Bet you had fun trying to get the switch out!  My new switch should arrive today, shortly followed by LEDs.

[skiing]

it was a nightmare. full Lotus position, upside down, head in the footwell. 

[Lotusfab]

Lotus cars are a mix of joy and pain! 

I found I can just about squeeze in upside down between the seat and steering wheel then reach the switch with one hand. Putting the connectors on is very tricky! The switches are very cheap on ebay! 

I hope to cover some miles this year in both of my cars. Keep a look out on the motorways for huge traffic jams this summer! 

[v8vantage]

Why? Usual Lotus problem, broken down blocking traffic...you should know better than to drive them Fab!🤣

[Lotusfab]

Brake lights fixed! The switch I bought is unbranded from a well known supplier! It works but I found a Lucas version for half the price, it looks more substantial. I will keep it as a back up. If you install the new switch with the lock nut and the lights still don’t work wind it out a bit until it does. The adjustment on these is critical for it to work.
I was less successful with my LEDs. I ordered LUCAS 380 bulbs. I though the S1 had twin filament bulbs like the Turbo and bought them from memory without checking, well it doesn’t! It has single bulb, single contact. I believe they are 382s so have ordered some for £5 on ebay. Hope they fit this time! 
 I will see if the 380s fit the Turbo and switch them out. The power output is a total of 42 W for the old Lucas bulbs against 10 W for the LEDs. Power = Voltage x current, so this is a big current reduction which should make the switch last a lot longer. I have read its better to use a RED LED for brake lights and an orange for indicators rather than white, although there is conflicting advice. I will no experience with LED bulbs, so will try them and see. If you switch out the indicator bulbs you have to change the flasher unit. The LED compatible flasher unit is fairly cheap. Instrument bulbs after that! 
I still have my correct new door seals to fit. They are Ford Escort seals! The one I fitted on the Turbo is working perfectly. I went out in the rain to test my Turbo suspension align and no leaks! It will be a treat to have the doors closing flush again before the summer - when we hopefully will be unleashed to cause chaos on the roads once again! 

[Lotusfab]

Ok 382s work perfectly on the Turbo. I used red LEDs they re so much brighter. A massive improvement for £5!

[Lotusfab]

My Lucas brake switch arrived. It is identical to the original and even has a new locking nut. I bought it from Morris Minor parts for £5!Lucas SMB421 if you need one!

[Lotusfab]

Finally fitted my new door seals. The doors close so much better and are flush. Internally the new seal no longer goes over the top of the carpet, but sits up against it. This isn’t ideal, but the more important sealing section is almost identical to the original, which makes it easier to compress and results in a wider sealing area. They were about half the cost of the other ones and very easy to join. I have the door catch adjusted to full in and there is no excessive pressure. The door is closing better now the seal section is correct especially at the top of the frame. 

[Lotusfab]

My first major issue with the car since the rebuild happened a couple of days back. The water level went down a lot. It topped it up and it went down again. I started to check for leaks. I found a pool of coolant on top of the engine. More investigation I could see a drip. It was still there after tightening the clips. With a torch and mirror I found a split in the thermostat to manifold pipe. It was cause by the hexagon screw on the jubilee clip on the pipe above rubbing on the pipe below! I learned a lot from that! Hopefully back on the road soon! At least I didn't travel too far before I found it!

[JonSE]

Good you found it!

[Lotusfab]

Yep. I always check the carbs and levels, especially if it hasn’t been driven for a while. Thats when I picked up the issue. 

[Lotusfab]

All fixed and test driven. Tricky to replace the thermostat to manifold pipe, as there is no room to work! Driving great again! 

[Lotusfab]

Post restoration

Its very disappointing how quickly restored cars degrade if driven. As soon as they get wet the corrosion starts. The S1 doesn’t have an under sheild like the Turbo so water splashes around. Still I built these to drive. One tip would give is to cover some bits that aren’t painted in clear lacquer. This will hopefully stop them rotting. Clean aluminium degrades very quickly, painting engine bits may be the way ahead. Put brass bits on the carbs in cillet bang, they come out like new! 
Guess I will get the dremmel out and start cleaning and lacquering! 

[Rolls]

Eastwood’s diamond clear is very good.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks mate.

[Lotusfab]

All the hard work can be seen here…

 

[Lotusfab]

Be sure and buy the October edition of classic and sports car, its a Bond Special! Come out 3 rd Sep I believe. There should be some good pics in it!

 

[Lotusfab]

Finally solved my tailgate closing issue, which has annoyed me for some years now. The tailgate would only pop up a tiny amount which made it very difficult to get your fingers in. It also grated when closing and wasn’t smooth. 
I bought the new initial lift spring from S and J, the rubber stopper and bolt.

I always believed the spring or stop were too short. This wasn’t the case. The flat plate mechanism the spring and bolt was mounted on was very slightly bent! This was very difficult to see, but I discovered it whilst making a nylon plate for the Catch to sit on to replace the multiple shims because they look unsightly. 
The bolt was bending up the tailgate as the boot was closed and at an angle when it was extended. I bent the plate back a little. Now the tailgate pops up so you can easily get your fingers in. The grating was being cause by the bolt threads going too far up the bolt and catching on the mounting. I replaced the S and J bolt with one 1/2 inch longer 4 inches instead of 3 1/2 and this sorted the problem. It now works perfectly and is very easy to close without much force required. If only I had know this before! 

[Fridge]

I sourced my own stainless steel bolt and haven't had any issues. Unlike SJ's front and rear bumper edge rubber trim, which is wavey on both bumpers and looks cheap, and falls between the rear bumper edge and body shell.

I finally bit the bullet and sourced higher quality profiles elsewhere. The rear bumper rubber looks like it will stay in position, and the new front rubber is exactly like that which was fitted originally.

[Lotusfab]

4 hours ago, Fridge said:

I sourced my own stainless steel bolt and haven't had any issues. Unlike SJ's front and rear bumper edge rubber trim, which is wavey on both bumpers and looks cheap, and falls between the rear bumper edge and body shell.

I finally bit the bullet and sourced higher quality profiles elsewhere. The rear bumper rubber looks like it will stay in position, and the new front rubber is exactly like that which was fitted originally.

 

4 hours ago, Fridge said:

I sourced my own stainless steel bolt and haven't had any issues. Unlike SJ's front and rear bumper edge rubber trim, which is wavey on both bumpers and looks cheap, and falls between the rear bumper edge and body shell.

I finally bit the bullet and sourced higher quality profiles elsewhere. The rear bumper rubber looks like it will stay in position, and the new front rubber is exactly like that which was fitted originally.

Where did you buy the trim from?

[Fridge]

The rubber trim from eBay, and I bought all the fasteners from a local factors.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Fridge

[Lotusfab]

8 hours ago, Fridge said:

The rubber trim from eBay, and I bought all the fasteners from a local factors.

Have you got a link please?

[Fridge]

Check out this profile https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121668017693

 

For fasteners https://www.hawk-fasteners.com/

Edited September 15, 2021 by Fridge

[Lotusfab]

47 minutes ago, Fridge said:

Check out this profile https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121668017693

 

For fasteners https://www.hawk-fasteners.com/

Thanks David.

That looks good!

[Lotusfab]

If anyone wants to see this car it will be at the NEC classic car show on 12/13/14 NOV.