1979 Yellow Lotus Eclat: My project thread

[TAR]

I would think of it as essential maintenance before the car is used as it appears that the steering could be in a dangerous condition at the moment.

It'll drive like new when you get this sorted. Good luck.

 

[soldave]

3 hours ago, oilmagnet477 said:

Although, thank someone upstairs you weren't driving it when that happened!

Been there, done that...

Half wondering if I should do the trunions while it's apart. But then again it's something that could wait until the winter when I may get new shocks & springs for the front and it'll come apart again anyway.

[oilmagnet477]

Do the trunions whilst it's apart.

Luke will tell you it makes sense

 

[soldave]

4 minutes ago, oilmagnet477 said:

Do the trunions whilst it's apart.

Luke will tell you it makes sense

 

Yeah, I did notice his incident with them!

[CharlieCroker]

At least have a look at the condition of the upright thread, any signs of corrosion, change them. In all honesty you're in the middle of exactly the process I had to do after the upright failure, may as well do it now before you suffer the same misfortune. 

[soldave]

Good point. Well my shopping list now includes trunnions, bush kit, seals etc so should have the startings of a whole new front end. Lots of other bushes to replace at the front, but will hopefully will have a better handling and safer car when I'm done.

Going to buy a gear puller in the next couple of days too to see if I can get those bolts stuck in the trunnion sleeves out.

[soldave]

Right - with the assistance of a friend with an angle grinder, we got the trunnions off! One of the bolts that goes through the brake dust shield and steering arm has to be cut through too, so I'm currently trying to find the size of that in order to source a replacement.

Anti-roll bar came off without too much trouble, and it looks like the bushes needed replacing. This is how the old ones came off looking!

So yeah... hopefully the poly ones will make a bit of a difference! The ones in the middle of the bar didn't look too bad, but new ones should feel much better. New trunnions and hardware on the bottom, and once I've got some more bolts and replacement wheel bolts, the car can finally go back together and hopefully get back on the road

[Bibs]

Wow! They don't look new anymore! 

[oilmagnet477]

Whoever fitted them definitely got their moneys worth lol

What's the state of the ARB?

 

[soldave]

ARB actually looks OK. A bit of corrosion on that side you saw the photos from, but the rest looks OK and it looks like just surface rust.

I'm going to try and replace all hardware (nuts, bolts etc) that has come off so I'm in the best position possible going forward.

[CharlieCroker]

How does the upright thread look? 

[soldave]

6 minutes ago, CharlieCroker said:

How does the upright thread look? 

Both uprights and insides of trunnions looked in very good condition actually. Kept the uprights but have nice shiny and oiled trunnions in place now.

[soldave]

New ARB bushes and trunions fitted, and I have to say the car handles much better. Biggest difference I've found is that when I straighten out after a corner it doesn't feel like a boat; it springs back once and no swaying. Even my wife noticed it, and her perceptiveness to things related to cars is equal to my perceptiveness of fashion!

I even made it to a car show on Friday night. Didn't win (judges must have been blind ) but had a good number of people come up and tell me how good it looks. I was also surprised that quite a few kids were telling their parents they'd seen a yellow Lamborghini! The car almost made it there and back without any issues too... almost. Here for more on that though: http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/83122-low-voltage-on-gauge/?do=findComment&comment=656367.

I do know the electrics in the car need sorting out, and that's something that might go on the do to list for this winter, possibly in the form of a rewire. Happy to enjoy the car as it is now. Only thing I need to check is the timing on the car once again. I remember before I set it to 9 degrees at idle, but I've just read and that should have been static 9 degrees, with 25 degrees at 3,500-4,000rpm. I think I checked that but need to confirm.

All that's left for me to do is actually get it on the road and get some confidence back in it!

 

 

[johnpwalsh]

Looking good Dave. Nice to see the wheels all polished up again. Wendy's fingers remember the day well when she last did them, blisters just now healing lol.

[Dunc]

Those ARB bushes look utterly donalded.

They take a lot of strain under braking so you'll probably find she stops much happier now as well as cornering. I know I found this.

How easy were the polybush ones to fit? I bought the original (expensive ones) from Lotus bits and found them to be a bit of a pain to fit and not made of the most inspiring material - seemed very foamy and light duty. For the racecar I'd prefer poly. Were they tricky? I recall all sorts of tom foolery with G clamps and suchlike to pick up the end of the thread, although I must admit that the ARB was still attached to the car.

[soldave]

7 minutes ago, Dunc said:

How easy were the polybush ones to fit? I bought the original (expensive ones) from Lotus bits and found them to be a bit of a pain to fit and not made of the most inspiring material - seemed very foamy and light duty. For the racecar I'd prefer poly. Were they tricky? I recall all sorts of tom foolery with G clamps and suchlike to pick up the end of the thread, although I must admit that the ARB was still attached to the car.

Good question. The poly bushes were easy to go on. The ones for the middle of the ARB were split and so just slot on easily. The ones at the end just slid in place without any issues. I guess they were quite pliable and not as stiff as some poly bushes I've fitted in the past. They did squash down quite a bit even with the little torque that's required on the ARB nuts.

[soldave]

The Lotus Eclat: comes with more issues as standard than your average exotic dancer!

But saying that, with new bushes, brake pads and trunions at the front, and a new alternator in there, I'm really looking forward to driving her this weekend and seeing how she handles. The brakes still feel like they pulse a little on braking, but maybe the calipers need a rebuild this winter. Will see after I've done some bedding in of the brakes.

Hopefully won't have any more stories of woe on here for a while. My friend was commenting recently that he wants to see me driving the car more than I'm repairing it!

[soldave]

Went to the Hebden Bridge Vintage Weekend today. Some lovely cars there including one Esprit and a couple of Lotus Cortinas. Will post pictures up here one I get back home tomorrow.

Car drove very well with no real problems either. Only thing to note was the slightly above normal water temperature. It was covering the 0 of the 90 on some of the drive, and I've got the correct mix of coolant in there I think. Typically it seems to have got worse from last year when I "upgraded" the one fan to my current two fan setup. May replace the thermostat when I get the chance, just in case that's hindering my cooling setup.

Edited August 6, 2016 by soldave

[mikeeech]

Do you think one or both of the fans are blowing when they should be sucking?

[soldave]

12 hours ago, mikeeech said:

Do you think one or both of the fans are blowing when they should be sucking?

Checked and both are pulling in the right direction. One thing that may have a lot to do with it is the 2-3" gap between the top of the radiator and the underside of the nose; at speed the air is probably just passing over the radiator. There's no foam there and the gap is much bigger than the foam strip you can buy from SJ (A079K4001F).

I could try and attach some foam going up to the top of the radiator to the bottom of the cone. If it holds then it should force the airflow through the radiator. Problem is, I'm guessing at speed there's a fair chance the adhesive could give way and the foam get pushed back by airflow into the engine bay.

[CharlieCroker]

So the dial is sitting just on the high side of the 90, nothing to worry about. If it was way into the 95 and up I'd be concerned, fans should pull the incoming road air through the radiator up and over the engine and out of the bonnet vents, put a piece of paper behind the fans, if it sucks the paper into the radiator, you'll need to change the polarity, fan spinning direction. 

[soldave]

Thanks for the thoughts, Charlie

Tried with some kitchen paper in front of the radiator; both fans are pulling air through. It's just air taking the path of least resistance and when I'm moving it's going over the radiator and not through.

[soldave]

Well I've gone with some foam attached to the top of the radiator so we'll see how that turns out.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the Lotus from Hebden Bridge Vintage Weekend. Please note the Playboy magazine from the month my Eclat was made

[soldave]

Took some flowers to my dad today and the wife spotted a good photo opportunity. It came out pretty well I think.

In other news, I tried blocking some of the gap at the top of the radiator but temps don't seem to have been affected. Needle only covering the 0 of 90 at its highest so will just keep an eye on it. New thermostat this winter just in case that's a factor but won't worry about it too much. Just enjoying it being on the road right now.

Considering taking it home to Hethel and going to one of the Classic Team Lotus tours a little later in the year.

[soldave]

Well I had just tempted fate by telling some friends that the Lotus had been running quite well...

Decided to drive to friends this evening in the Lotus, as I've not driven it at night for quite a while. On the way there, I noticed the tach gauge light wasn't working but that's an easy diagnosis one evening this week to find out if the bulb has gone or is just loose. Then it came to the drive back.

Drove about a mile and onto some country roads. Went to shift into 4th and the gearstick suddenly became very loose and almost pulled up in my hand. Car was in neutral so coasted to the side of the road. Put the interior light on so I could see a bit better and then realised I'd better turn on the hazards so everyone knows I've stopped. That then causes the interior light to start coming on and off in time with the hazards; great for an in-car disco, not so good when you're quite stressed out!

Main worry was that the gearstick had come out in neutral and I know you're only supposed to remove it from the car when it's in 3rd or 4th gear, and so was fearing I'd have to take the gearbox out to sort it out (as has been mentioned before). I don't know why, but luck was on my side and I was able to get to the gearstick, push it down and into place and screw it down, and it worked in all gears again. Don't want to be doing that again so I might put some locktite on the threads that go into the gearbox in the next week or so, to make sure it doesn't loosen and come out with vibration again.

And the lighting issue was caused by a fuse (those wonderful continental-style fuses not having a good connection once again). Made me consider doing a full car rewire again though this winter.

One thing I'll say - Lotus driving is always an experience!