It was me...

[directordanw]

Thank you Iain! That is so kind of you. I will be driving down on 9th May. I have tried to ping you a message, let's exchange details if that Saturday works for you.

[eliteman]

Hi Dan. The window corners are on e bay just now. Search under Lotus Elite. They have 24 hours left of bidding and are about £8/£9 just now. Take care. Liam

[CharlieCroker]

There's only one available, I couldn't find the right side but it is 100% in the garage somewhere, soon as I find it it will go on the bay.

[directordanw]

Ah! I'd seen these and I was just wondering what the chances of there being two pairs out there with rivet holes in them. That explains it!

[directordanw]

Hi Dan,

 

Have just found your posting. If you recall, we have done some business before over Ebay. If you are intersted I have an original black leather 2.2 steering wheel going spare. Have just been down to the garage to fetch it. Only changed it from Rhona, as I found a brand new wheel locally-still sealed in its Lotus wrapping!

Have also sourced an all leather crash pad recently, which I intend to have recoloured to match the "champagne" interior. Will unbolt the other one for you. It is a rubberised one with a black leather centre.

 

All yours for the price of the postage,

 

All in the cause to keep these great cars on the road.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Iain

 

P.s. Cannot get my email to work after a complete operating system install, so will watch your posting.

 

Hi Iain, been trying to get you on your old email, I'm guessing you're still having problems.  Just wanted to check if you were still going to be around this Saturday (9th May) for me to drop in.  I reckon I'll be driving past your neck of the woods between 1 & 2, something like that. Cheers, Dan

[Ranald]

Hi Dan,

 

Apologies, not replied sooner,  have just found your message; still have having problems with getting a fully functioning email. Trapped the siatic nerve in my back, so have been off work this week in sheer agony!

 

Cheers,

 

Iain

[directordanw]

Not a problem Iain. I'm hoping to leave Glasgow by ten tomorrow so please PM with your details if you're going to be around and I'll drive that way down the country. It would probably be about two I was passing.

[Ranald]

Hi,

 

Have you got a sat nav?

If so, it will be much easier, than trying to give you directions.

 

Iain

[directordanw]

I absolutely do. Still got your address from eBay - assuming it's the same one? If early afternoon is OK then I'll just make my way to you. I've PM'd my number to you. Cheers, Dan

[Ranald]

Hi Dan,

 

You cannot miss the house, just look for the white Elite in the front.

See you then,

 

 

Iain

[directordanw]

Perfect! Looking forward to it!

[directordanw]

Hi Iain - we must find a better way to communicate than this! - so after all our discussions my plans have now changed last minute and I won't be driving down today. Sorry to muck you about, but I'm hoping we can arrange postage so I can still get the wheel from you.

Very disappointed not to meet up, it's always great to meet fellow lunatics, and see their cars. Reminds me why we go through all this!

[Ranald]

Hi Dan,

 

To put your mind at rest, I have not forgotten you, the pc failed again; and I was in no fit state to sit at my desk and fitxit. It is now up and running again.

Your steering wheel is sat here ready for dispatch, I just need your details. Have given up on the email, and have opened a Hotmail account.

 

Lotuselite@hotmail.co.uk

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Iain

[basalte]

Just noticed this - Another 2.2 saved, excellent !

[directordanw]

Thanks Iain.  I have emailed you.

[directordanw]

So I've finally got a chance to spend a bit of time with the car today.  And the first bit of good news is that the engine turned freely by hand first time.  So once I've changed the cam belt - hopefully this weekend - I'll see what happens when I turn her on the starter.  The next job is to pull the fuel tank and give it a clean, and replace the Facet fuel pump which a PO had put in.  I've got a spare SU on the shelf so I'll plumb that in with all new pipes and then enjoy that reassuring tick-tick of the pump.  Here's a silly question - tried to pull the tank this morning (which I surprised to discover had a lot of very old petrol in it, bit of a mess!) but I'm struggling to work out where the other end of the two bolts is.  The spin freely but aren't coming out and there's no sign of a corresponding nut behind the seats or anywhere.  Where should I be looking to shift these two?  And are they the only two that hold the tank in?

 

Favourite bit of PO invention so far is the cooling fan override switch - which involves two wires from the fan that end in a 12v appliance plug.  So I'm guessing the very inelegant solution was to plug this into the cigarette lighter when they wanted the fans to run.  This will be going!

[pbharcourt]

Hi Dan,

The nuts for the tank bolts are in the wheel arch up by the top of the damper area (were they wont rust obviously!)

Just one each side.

[directordanw]

Thanks for that. Now reading up everything I can about the cambelt change. I seems straightforward enough as long as I'm methodical, although fraught with potential disasters. The one thing I can't find any info on is how to set the tension once I'm finished. Given that I don't have a Burroughs gauge or equivalent what suggestions does the forum have from their experience?

[jason.goad]

Is it the semi automatic spring loaded tensioner?

If it is have a look how many threads are sticking out from the lock nut and replace there same amount. You'll need a pin to lock it when taking the belt off. If it's the manual tensioner, you should just be able to twist the belt by 90 degrees along the longest length. (This also applies to the semi automatic as well). Make sure the engine turns freely by hand before using the key. That way no damage is done.

[directordanw]

Thanks Jason.  I rather think I will be relying on the Forums quite heavily during the process!

[TAR]

its about time we had some more pictures of the car. 3 pages and only a few at the start!!

[directordanw]

Here's some pics as requested.  Albeit very boring ones...

 

About to start the cam belt change, lined the crank up at TDC before starting marking everything with Tippex.  Looking at the position of two cams does anyone else agree that it looks like the PO had the left cam one tooth out?  Hope they haven't damaged anything...

 

 

And for good measure here's a few more of the car the day I picked it up.  Andy at Lotus is sorting out the history for me now.  Got an inkling it might be a bit special...

[directordanw]

Cambelt change done. And it really wasn't that tricky. Took a while but better to get it right first time. Although the one goof I did make was - after torquing up the V pulley - discovering that there was then no way to get the A/C belt on without removing it again. Which I guess forces the question as to whether I refit the A/C at all. I am keen to keep the car as original as possible. Any thoughts..?

The one nightmare job was the tensioner. I'd bought a fully reconditioned unit from LotusBits and they supply them with the adjusting screw loose - I suppose to preserve the spring. Trying to get that bugger in there against the spring and then get it threaded (and not cross threaded which was its default preference) is a challenge. And I still don't think I've got it straight. Anyone got any brilliant advice?

Fuel tank also removed, I'll be giving that a thorough clean and then checking for leaks. It seems intact but there's a lot of rust which could be hiding all sorts. Here's a great link for how to clean the tank:

http://www.realclassic.co.uk/techfiles/petrol_tank_cleaning_and_rust_removal.html

I used this method on a vintage moped and the results were remarkable. And while the tank's out I'll replace all the fuel lines. A constructive weekend so far. And I'm sure the family aren't really missing me...

[CharlieCroker]

Regarding the adjusting screw, I had the same problem, it's almost impossible to hold tension and screw it on straight. So this is how I did it. I took a heavy socket extension bar and put a socket just slightly larger than the screw, I then wrapped electrical tape around the adjuster screw and put that into the socket. Now with my body weight positioned so that I had the spring depressed down enough to make a good 3 or 4 turns on the screw it went in straight and true. You don't need a massive amount of weight over it to begin the turns, however be sure that the screw is well into the socket which helps minimise the spring throwing back at you.

[directordanw]

I was trying a similar method with a long socket and a screwdriver threaded through the centre. The big problem is getting a good angle when working around the A/C compressor. Had you removed yours by this point?