1979 Yellow Lotus Eclat: My project thread

[soldave]

Thought I'd start this thread to keep track of my progress with this car, and to have some discussion on it. Tech questions I'll probably keep on tech-specific threads but we'll just see how this evolves.

 

So, after living in Japan for 10 years and building a few cars including a Mitsubishi Evo I, a Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) and most recently a 550+bhp Mitsubishi Evo III, I've made my way back to England and got hold of this little beauty. Quite a few of you out there know the history of this car (owned by Team Lotus for 5 years, driven by Nigel Mansell & Elio de Angelis etc etc). But my job is now making sure its future is successful.

 

I've got a short list of things to do so far, which will of course grow over time. We have:

• Reverse switch needs replacing
• Power steering has slight leak; either at the hose or a pinhole in the reservoir - haven't sourced yet but I think the former
• One radiator fan doesn't work (although it stays cool on one)
• Cooling system is currently only filled with water (replacing with a 50/50 coolant mix following a flush is a priority)
• Bleeding brakes and checking front brakes (have replacement discs and pads if required). Brakes might have been bled recently, but I like to cover things myself too
• Driver's seat foam needs replacing
• Rear driver's seat has a small hole that needs replacing (I have material to do this)
• Vacuum hoses need replacing in the engine bay (the one from the brake booster to the engine had a substantial crack in it, so might do all)
• Find out if the play I have in the gearstick when in gear is normal

 

Think that's about it for now but am sure there are many more. Will try to take photos of all I do so hopefully people can advise and maybe learn too Feel free to chip in with any thoughts.

Edited October 9, 2014 by soldave

[CharlieCroker]

Got some good history this car, those problems listed are very standard so you'll get loads of input. But please tell me for why you have gone from some very monsterous sounding power Jap cars to a yellow 70's Lotus wedge?

[soldave]

Those problems are common?  Well that's encouraging!

 

The cars were good fun, but it is time in the UK for something different.  Just because I like to show off pics a little, the pics below were of my last car in Japan after I'd finished with it.  Bought it as a 250 pound wreck with hardly any interior and a completely seized engine.

[pbharcourt]

Whoa!! Is that the spare wheel in the front or a massive turbo!

Fantastic job Dave.

[soldave]

Thanks.  The turbo was actually a 7-blade Holset HX-40 turbo.  Originally designed for use on a diesel bus but some crazy folk throw them on cars too

[TAR]

Its easy to love great British engineering and admire the Japanese technology.

I love my Lotus project and I drive a Jap performance car.

It would appear that you don't need to do much to get the car into a good running order. Hope it goes smoothly for you

[soldave]

It's in good running order but wouldn't be a project car if it was finished!  And we know these things are never really finished!

Tim - what Japanese performance car have you got?

[johnpwalsh]

Dave, we are so glad you have old Banana, when you were up you gave slight mention to your Japanese projects but never hinted just how far you went with them, hats off to you, nice work. A bus turbo!!!!. Good luck with the ongoing work on Banana and as I have said before, just call anytime and we can chat about what she may need, and of course it goes without saying, as you have already found the guy's on here will be a mountain of information and asistance.

Where did you find the fractured hose.

[soldave]

The fractured hose was very close to the nipple on the hose from engine to brake booster.  I think it was stretched a little and the heat has caused it to rupture.  It's taped over right now but I'll get some replacement hose once I find out what the diameter is.  It might explain why the brake pedal was feeling like it was pulsing, even at idle.

Got 60 pounds' worth of Halfords vouchers today from my work as part of a reward I won.  Already got some Kamasa sockets on order.  So I think some spanners, coolant (OAT or silicate, anyone?  I'm guessing the former) and some wax & wheel polish would be nice additions to the garage, as well as a jack & jackstands

[soldave]

Won't be long either until I start looking for someone who can make a tiny pot of touch-up paint in L31 (I think the car's in Lemon Yellow) for the stone chip spot in front of one of the headlights too.

[TAR]

On 10 October 2014 at 07:07, soldave said:

Tim - what Japanese performance car have you got?

Its a Mistubishi Legnum...

[mikeeech]

I once had an RX7 FD3s so it's good to see another wankel on here! brilliantly simple engine and massively complicated plumbing but wonderful to drive - I sold it since I always found myself at the back of the queue and with 13mpg economy it was a little expensive. at least the lotus will be at the front of the queue... or at the side of the road with the bonnet up

[johnpwalsh]

If old Banana is ever at the side of the road it will be for sight seeing.

[markgenesis]

Cracking car and colour. Are you going to get the vacuum sorted for the headlight pods, get them closed when off ?.

[soldave]

Thanks.  Yeah, I'm going to do a few checks and find out where the leak is occurring.  I'm reasonably confident I can nail it down given a bit of time.

[johnpwalsh]

Have you tried fitting the new none return valve I gave you and tightened the joints between the headlights.

[Don.Hasi]

For the one not working fan: if you have AC on board it could be the fan which will kick in, when the AC is on

[soldave]

Have you tried fitting the new none return valve I gave you and tightened the joints between the headlights.

Tried it this afternoon.  Just went to check on the car and the lights are up again.  Must be an air leak or something further down the line towards the lights or something.  I'll find it somehow...

I once had an RX7 FD3s so it's good to see another wankel on here! brilliantly simple engine and massively complicated plumbing but wonderful to drive - I sold it since I always found myself at the back of the queue and with 13mpg economy it was a little expensive. at least the lotus will be at the front of the queue... or at the side of the road with the bonnet up

I enjoyed my FC, especially as I bought it as it was going to the junkyard and managed to bring it back to life after a few months of troubleshooting.  But it was awful on fuel economy, and as a performance car it just didn't really have any torque.  So it moved on to another owner.

[cbclotus]

welcome Dave .Looks a great car .Bought from a genuine. Lotus guy.Mike

[soldave]

Ventured into a chilly garage tonight as my Kamasa sockets have arrived.  Here are a couple of things I've found:

• The spark plugs currently in the car are BP6E.  Will switch to BPR6ES at some point but the plugs look in pretty good condition right now
• The centre console pin light works!  Played around with it and it must have just been a dodgy connection.  I'm not getting the feeling of having the sun in my car, but it makes a dark place at night marginally less dark.
• Speaking of darkness, I found out why the tachometer doesn't light up.  There's no light in the gauge!  And no bulb connector to speak of.  Very strange - I had a limited rummage around with everything connected, but couldn't find anything so will leave it as it is.  The oil pressure gauge was hooked up but not working so I'll have a look at that at a slightly later point when I take all the connectors off the dash.

And that's about it for now.  Thinking of using this guide (http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/116.cfm) and some foam from here or similar.  Will see if I can resurrect the driver's seat.  That's the plan, anyway

Edited October 14, 2014 by soldave

[johnpwalsh]

Hi Dave, have a check on the pipe connection to the block and look for a split in the pipe as the oil pressure gauge was working before she left for your drive South, maybe disturbed something/pulled off a connection or something simple, what you dont want is oil spilling out all over the place and losing pressure.

[soldave]

The gauge works fine, but the light for it isn't.  Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I did take a look at the back and while there was some wetness between the oil line and gauge body, it didn't look too bad.

[johnpwalsh]

Thanks for that Dave, I was a bit worried then for a moment as I know the gauge always worked, you will find a tiny bit of seepage at the brass union where it attaches to the gauge, this is normal and nothing to worry about, it's probably been that way since the car was new and has never changed in all the years I had her.

[Mark Blanchard]

Hi Dave,

You did some great stuff with the Lancer.  Back in the mid 90s I used to have a new 1995 Lancer GLXi for 2 years and I thrashed the nuts off it.  It was bullet proof and great fun to drive.

Good luck with your Éclat project, that looks a really nice car.

[soldave]

A productive day so far.  Managed to flush the coolant (after removing the bonnet) and have filled with a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water.  Got it back up to running temperature and all hoses seemed hot but will keep an eye on it over the next few days to see if the reservoir needs filling up.

 

Also replaced my cracked brake booster hose with some nice new stuff so hopefully that will give me a nice seal.

 

And finally, I may have found out where a clunk is coming from.  It was coming from the right hand side whenever I went over bumps.  Previous owner assured me it was nothing with the door beams, but it did seem to be coming from that direction.  While looking around the engine bay area, I took a photo down into the headlight pod and saw this:

 

Yup, those are 2 spanners that you can see down in the pod!  My little hobbit-like arms weren't small enough to get in there but I'll get myself a magnet pick up tool and hopefully that noise will go away