1979 Yellow Lotus Eclat: My project thread

[Don.Hasi]

as long as the ride height is the same concerning the values... It should be easier to get them in

Where are these from?

[soldave]

Springs from SJ. Shocks ordered from Larkspeed and will hopefully arrive in the next week.

[Dunc]

what shocks did you go for?

[soldave]

Gaz GS6-2127.  We'll see how they go, but I think it's going to be a big improvement over my current setup

[soldave]

Due to a huge amount of help from a good friend today, I got the u-joints changed and had a good look at the one that had seized.  Surprisingly, the pins were all in there and intact, but had absolutely no grease in that cap.  The other caps in that u-joint and all of the others looked well greased, but have been replaced by Spicer ones.  All media blasted and cleaned up and they all look pretty good now.

 

Did see one of the wheel bearings looking like it'd had better days, so am going to order a pair of new rears tomorrow.  Also waiting for my new shocks to arrive and then things can be put back together.  Then if I have time I'd like to get the trailing arms shot blasted and then painted, but have a big classic car weekend on August 1-2, so time's at a bit of a premium now.

 

Can't wait to get the car back on the road and see how she feels with all this work done on the rear end.

[soldave]

Getting there little by little.  Looked at the wheel bearings again today and it looks like it was just the outer oil seal which the spring inner had come a bit unstuck on - the bearing actually seems in good condition.  The current oil seal has the following marking: 25016837.R4.  Now I know the R4 signifies that it's a metal case seal, and the number before that is obviously the type.  But looking at the part from SJ Sports Cars it looks like it a straight rubber oil seal (like this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rubber-Imperial-Rotary-Shaft-Oil-Seal-25016837-Oil-Seal-1-11-16-x2-1-2-x3-8-/191534108249).

 

My question is, will the seal I've listed work, or should I be looking specifically at the R4 metal case type, or one from SJ?

[soldave]

And yet another item to add to the shopping list.  Was cleaning up the threads on some of the aforementioned studs today when I saw the thread on one of them looking like below.  Am wondering if it compressed the stud when I was wailing on it with a hammer trying to free it.  Either way, another one is going to have to be ordered, and typically it's the diff carrier stud which costs around 30 quid.

 

[silverfrost]

   Proper restoration on the  the shafts with the media blasting, will last a long time as it also provides a fantastic

    key for the paint to stick to, or are you going even further and powder coating. ?

 

    Nice work so far and good luck with the project.

Edited July 26, 2015 by silverfrost

[soldave]

   Proper restoration on the  the shafts with the media blasting, will last a long time as it also provides a fantastic

    key for the paint to stick to, or are you going even further and powder coating. ?

 

    Nice work so far and good luck with the project.

Thanks.  The shafts will stay as they are.  I'm considering having the radius arms media blasted and powder coated though.

[soldave]

Aaaannnnddddd we're back on the road again!

 

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/75293-vibration-on-right-turns/#entry591115

[soldave]

Wow - it's been four months since I updated the thread. Folks who are active on the forums may have seen my posts elsewhere and maybe worked out things that I've been doing.

The car came off the road at the start of October for the winter. I've got an alternative car so no reason for it to be driving around on wet and eventually salted/snowy roads. Plus it gives me chance to do some maintenance and work I've been wanting to do.

Starter solenoid has been replaced which was a bit of a mission, but I got there in the end. And then today I got the bonnet off and removed the radiator and fan assembly, ready to replace the broken one. First of all, what an absolute swine that radiator is, coming out of the engine bay. Took the fan cowling off first as it was just ziptied on there. Getting the cowling out, if I'm not mistaken, I don't have the original fan cowlings. Take a look below and let me know what you think.

Got the radiator out in the end although I can't say I'm looking forward to it going back in. Once it does I've got plenty of things to keep me busy until the spring when it gets back on the road again. The list includes:

• Replacing clutch to gearbox grommet
• Short shifter
• Electronic ignition kit for distributor
• New front tyres

Edited December 13, 2015 by soldave

[soldave]

Got the radiator back in, although it has two Ebay fans cooling it now as the Nissan Micra one couldn't be modified to fit the cowling and not touch the radiator without a fair bit of fabrication. Removed condenser block and associated equipment as far back as the firewall so happy with a bit of weight saving.

The radiator went back in surprisingly easily, and the fans seem to be doing a job and keeping temperatures stable when idling (not tested on the road yet as I'm SORNed until spring... if we ever have a winter). And even more surprisingly, was that when I turned the key it fired up into life without any issues. Have also taken the time to fit a Powerspark electronic ignition and managed to source a brand new starter solenoid so am pretty pleased with all of that.

What I have found out is that I definitely need a new battery. Took mine to a local garage for testing and they were saying they couldn't understand how it was even providing enough juice to fire the engine up! So I've got my eyes on a Yuasa 093 (http://www.europeanbatterysupplies.co.uk/index.php/yuasa-professional-093-car-battery.html) which should fit my existing terminals and provide the cranking power I need.

Also need to get a couple of new front tyres before long. There's nothing wrong with them condition-wise, but unless I'm mistaken the markings on them have them both being made at the back end of 2005 (see below). Unfortunately, there's really no real good replacements out there for 205/60R14 at the moment (http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?s_p=Summer%20tyres-205-60-R-14-H&one_size=205_60_R_14&dsco=110&m_s=3&sowigan=So&kategorie=6&ranzahl=4&Speed=H&suchen=1)

More pictures to come as mini jobs get done through the winter.

Edited December 23, 2015 by soldave

[soldave]

Got some tyres on order. They're nothing special but will most likely be much better than these ones as they are now.

 

And I'm happy to report the Eclat is all but back together now, and ready for MOT and registration with a target of the end of Feb/start of March.

 

There are still a couple of things I'd like to do (replace gearbox & diff oil when I replace the reverse light switch, and change the gearstick for a short shifter which will also get rid of the play I've got in the current one). They are things that don't have to be done but hopefully will be before Spring.

 

There's light at the end of the tunnel, and hopefully a year of fun drives ahead

[soldave]

Just had a birthday, so finally a time to get my short shifter ordered.

Getting the old gearstick out wasn't a problem (remembering to put the gearbox into 3rd first). And the new one went in surprisingly easily. Had a minor scare when I started the car and tried to test it as over the past month or so the clutch has stuck. Cue jacking the car and up playing around with the engine on and car in gear sorted it out without too many dramas.

Very pleased with it, although the tiny throw will take some getting used to. I can also confirm that the short shifter leaves plenty of space near the front console and doesn't need any modifications to work.

Not long now and it'll be MOT time...

[CharlieCroker]

Job well done, looks great. 

[Herc]

On a tangential topic, the 'green' mock suede of your interior can be restored to a nice chocolate colour for about 100 quid and some graft.   I used suede shoe re-colourant - I bought mine from Timpsons, but  it is probably cheaper on eBay.  Mine was in little glass bottles with an small foam applicator on a stick.  It takes a while, but you can watch the rugby while you do it..  The result is very satisfying.

Herc.

[soldave]

 

3 hours ago, Herc said:

On a tangential topic, the 'green' mock suede of your interior can be restored to a nice chocolate colour for about 100 quid and some graft.   I used suede shoe re-colourant - I bought mine from Timpsons, but  it is probably cheaper on eBay.  Mine was in little glass bottles with an small foam applicator on a stick.  It takes a while, but you can watch the rugby while you do it..  The result is very satisfying.

Herc.

The original should be brown, you say?! That might be a job for a weekend or two in the Spring.

Thanks for the heads-up

EDIT: This kind of thing look like it could do the job? https://www.monsieurchaussure.com/en/glacage-and-patina-design/dye/saphir/dye-500ml/saphir-dark-brown-shoe-dye-500ml.html

Or just a bunch of bottles of this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DYLON-SUEDE-NUBUCK-SHOE-BOOT-DYE-50ml-BOTTLE-APPLICATOR-BLACK-BROWN-BLUE-/252157366045?var=&hash=item3ab5c00f1d:m:m61d3YvbyY6-FNw5r09jdbQ

Edited February 11, 2016 by soldave

[mikeeech]

My black interior has gone this colour too

[dixi4uk]

Hi Dave,

So glad you took my suggestion of the Escort short shift that the rally boys use. They do get a little getting used to but the result is worth it. I am surprised no one has thought of it before. Every Elite /Eclat should be fitted with one. They are not expensive.

Adrian.

[soldave]

On 13/02/2016 at 09:43, dixi4uk said:

Hi Dave,

So glad you took my suggestion of the Escort short shift that the rally boys use. They do get a little getting used to but the result is worth it. I am surprised no one has thought of it before. Every Elite /Eclat should be fitted with one. They are not expensive.

Adrian.

Yeah, thanks for the heads-up on that. Car is off the road for the next month or so as it's been down over winter and not driven, but the stick feels very precise now. Can't wait to check out how it performs on the road.

[soldave]

MOT booked for 8am on Friday morning. I think I'll be OK but will still be nervous as hell!

Wish me luck

[oilmagnet477]

OK - Good Luck

Can't imagine you'll have a problem after all your hard work!

 

[soldave]

1 hour ago, oilmagnet477 said:

OK - Good Luck

Can't imagine you'll have a problem after all your hard work!

 

Thanks, but it's the work that I've done that's I'm worried about! We'll see

[soldave]

Just been looking at some older photos of my Eclat and spotted this engine bay pic. What are the 2 red stickers/labels on the airbox/carbs - were they on the car originally and if so is there anywhere I can get hold of them?

[mikeeech]

There were a couple on eBay a year or so ago... From memory they said something about the torque of the nuts on the carbs...