502M

[Trunnion 74]

Hi Ant,

  yes it's a piece of cake with the body off   I'm toying with the idea of putting polybushes and a new stud in the radius arm mount when it goes back together, ultimately they should last longer.  But you make a good point about access with the body on, bet Lotus had a secret tool for that job .

[Trunnion 74]

Thought I would try my trusty spring comperssors one the front springs today.

 

And.

.

They did the job! 

The front springs measure 17" is this right?  was expecting them to be longer.  Is there any significance to them having been painted a pale green?

Front all stripped chassis now ready for a blast with the pressure washer.

Onwards!!

[oilmagnet477]

I found that (on the side that I hadn't touched!!) by removing a couple of mm of body material I could get a cranked ring spanner on the bolt and it came off a treat.

The driver's side is a different story - an object lesson in taking your time!! I have now removed a large chunk of fibreglass but it is double skinned at that point so I haven't created access from within. In some ways that's a good thing but I'm still struggling. I'm off out tomorrow but will be looking for a 'shagged bolt socket' to give it its technical term to try and get the damned thing out. Once out (?), filling the whole and leaving longer term better access will be straightforward.

Poly bushes in the lower links is a must IMO - getting metalastic bushes in is a mare - from painful experience.

Well done. I'm actually looking forward to getting the Éclat apart............

[silverfrost]

Nice work Roland glad things are moving on with this project   

[Trunnion 74]

Been a while since I have posted an update, but I haven't been idle.  I didn't want to post individual pics of painted/coated components up and bore you all, so saved them

When I finished stripping the chassis I started to de-rust componants, but, always on the lookout for the easy option I decided to use a "chemical" bath, Bilt Hamber Deox C, to be precise.  Filled up a container with solution, chucked the bits in and waited.  Must say I was rather impressed with the results, as can be seen in the pic below it did a brilliant job! Can highly recommend it.

Once the parts were de-rusted some were sent for sand blasting and powder coating, others I decided to paint.  The powder coating came back a lot better than I expected

There's a mixture of powder coated and painted above. I know some bits are missing from the above, Final drive,steering rack and uprights, am still working on those. The quality of the powder coating is brilliant,

the springs in particular,

are perfect and look new, really pleased with the results!

Still got some work to do before I start bolting bits back on the chassis, may be a while to the next update.

Onwards to the next stage! 

 

[soldave]

Great work, especially on the powder coating. Where did you get it done?

[Trunnion 74]

Thanks Dave,

TJ Powder Coating, Nottingham.  Small business, one man band, which I tend to think are, perhaps, better as it matters if they get it wrong.  They also do wheels as well 

[soldave]

Thanks. I've thought about getting some parts powder coated before. Maybe over winter when the car is in hibernation.

Although the wheels need proper polishing rather than powder coating

[Trunnion 74]

21 minutes ago, soldave said:

Although the wheels need proper polishing rather than powder coating

Your'e right, polishing or diamond cut, i'm leaning toward diamond cut and treated.

[oilmagnet477]

Roland, your efforts continue to impress.

Keeps us all motivated. Top work - I agree, the small 'man in a shed' type operations are often very good, well priced and focused on customer service.

[soldave]

2 hours ago, Trunnion 74 said:

Your'e right, polishing or diamond cut, i'm leaning toward diamond cut and treated.

Didn't know diamond cutting was an option. If you get any quotes locally, be sure to post them up ?

[Trunnion 74]

11 hours ago, oilmagnet477 said:

Roland, your efforts continue to impress.

Cheers mate.

 

"Didn't know diamond cutting was an option. If you get any quotes locally, be sure to post them up ?"

Will do dave

[Trunnion 74]

Confession time!

 

Gentlemen, I have been holding something back, but I hope you will forgive me when you hear what I have to tell you.

You will remember that at the very beginning of this build thread I listed the chassis number, as 74020026A, that number appeared on the vin plate and on a piece of paperwork I was given when I bought the car.

Well   she isn’t what she seems.  When I sent for all the DVLA paperwork I received a copy of the original sale sheet (below) which shows the chassis number 74010018A and the engine number 74015632 (still with the car).  You can imagine my surprise and delight when I realised what I was looking at.

 

This is the original sales sheet which shows the original reg no PKF 10M, chassis no 74010018A and engine number 74015632.

 

This was the last V5 issued (dated Oct 1994) before i bought the car

 

 

 In 1990 owner number six (David Tandy) sent a letter to Lotus saying he had two Elites’ and asking for details about chassis number 0018A and 0026A.  When I spoke to David a few months ago I asked him about the two cars, he told me he never had two, only one, and that he had spotted the discrepancy and was trying to get information out of lotus (being discrete) to try and work out what he had. The only information they could find was that 74010018A had engine 74015632 was Cirrus white and had a build date of 8-5-74.  He also told me that during his research he spoke to an ex Lotus employee, who, when asked about the discrepancy said that, it wasn’t uncommon for a car to go out with the wrong VIN number on.  Whether this is true or not, I don’t think we’ll ever know.  As David was unable to find anything out he decided not to pursue it further.

The VIN plate shows 0026A, with the correct engine number and colour Cirrus White. Andy Graham has also confirmed that the gearbox 0029 and the final drive BE030 are both Valid.

So what of owner number four, Mr Hathaway, who had two cars (UEC 502M his wife’s) and painted them both the same?  Well Andy Graham did a bit of checking and TTW 676N (Mr Hathaway's car) was chassis number 0132A. So the plates were not crossed over when he did the paint job.  Was that incorrect vin plate on the car back in 1987, looks like it could have been.

 

This is an extract from an email I sent to Andy Graham on 6^th March.

“I believe that the original engine number is key here.  Both owner number 4, Mr Hathaway and number 6, Mr Tandy have confirmed that they never changed the engine. And both have confirmed that it was an aircon model 502,as has owner number 1

The paperwork I have indicates that engine number 5632 was allocated to car 0018A.  When I requested a new log book I did so using the Reg number I had, 502M.  If the engine had been put in a different car then the reg number would had been different and the timeline would also have been different and I would be none the wiser. The paperwork for the last 40+yrs shows the same engine number and 0018A chassis number.  The photo’s and information, from previous owners, I have so far collected  (going back nearly 30 years) all indicate it is the same car.”

 

I also asked a question about the VIN plate

And His reply

“I believe the VIN plates should be riveted, the majority of images I have are riveted.

What I do notice is the period pictures show the VIN plate held in with rusty screws and the plate itself is now in a bad condition. Other VIN plates I have image of from 1974 are in a much better condition and stamped. As I do not have other early VIN plates from January/February 1974 to compare I can’t confirm if your plate is a factory original or a replacement or even factory fitted.

I tend to agree with you, given the original registration document shows 74010018A, our records show the same details for 0018A and the car is still registered 74010018A this is the ID that holds more provenance than 0026A.”

 

Interestingly in one of Andy's other emails he said this.

"Our records for 0018A match exactly the original log book down to engine number, original dealer and Evans Bros. Ltd. as the first customer.

I have a feeling 0026A was used by Lotus and not retailed as a new car, but without records I cannot say for sure."

 

The mystery of the incorrect VIN plate still remains, however, all the research and information I have shows that the car isn’t number 0026A, as first thought, but is, in fact, 74010018A.

 

DVLA

In order to get hold of the original keeper info I had to request the V5 and tell the DVLA that I was the new owner.  This meant that I had to list the engine number and the chassis number, the chassis number I had was 0026A (wasn’t till I received the previous keeper details that I realised that number was incorrect).  This then left me with a problem.  I now had a new V5 with the wrong chassis number on it.  There then followed a lot of correspondence with the DVLA to get the original chassis number back on the V5.  But, thankfully, due to the evidence I had,  I managed to show them that  the number needed to be changed back along with a colour change back to white and can confirm that I now have a V5 with correct colour and chassis number.

 

Previous owners

Disappointingly the previous owner trail has now gone cold; I have not been able to track any more of them down and as yet no fresh news from the original owner Mr Evans.

Progress

Progress on the car is slow at the moment.  I need to spend some money on chassis bits, and as I am still unemployed, am reluctant to do so.  Instead I am re-furbishing what bits I can in preparation for when I can

 

So there you have it, am I forgiven?

Roland

[oilmagnet477]

You have an engine and a chassis - both of which came from Lotus.

Enjoy it for what it is and don't stress the small stuff

Anyway - what's to forgive - it isn't your fault!

Aside from that, good luck with the continued work - you seem to be taking the right approach - do what you can, when you can. If (I hope) your circumstances change, you can up the pace (albeit you will have less time!)

Good luck

Ant

[silverfrost]

Same as Ant says Roland ,  

Lovely car when finished and all legit on paper , so who cares,   you own a Lotus and its an elite  , life cant get much better 

Good luck with the rest of the restoration 

[johnpwalsh]

Keep up the good work Roland. Last year I was in your position with no employment and no income. A very good friend and respected TLF member who was previously unknown to me other than a name on postings on the forum gave me a massive unexpected boost by offering funds and convincing me that I could start a small business. This was never going to be a huge money earner, but certainly kept my sanity while looking for work and I will forever be indebted to that man. Eventually after 11 months I manage to find employment which once again meant I could, after catching up on domestic bill's, could start on the toy's again and all the time keeping our little business ticking over. All you need is one lucky break to get back up and running, and it will happen. You never know, maybe a mention of what kind of work you are involved in may just find an opening through the huge TLF network.

As for your Elite, keep us posted with how your getting on with her, everyone on here likes to keep an interest and are more than willing to help out with any queries you may have.

[Trunnion 74]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. 

[Testdriver]

All the best for finding a job again, and also for your Elite project!

[mikeeech]

I was out of work a few years back - it's even on my resto thread! and i have not looked back since but it feels like a precarious position to be in. Keep your chin up and don't stop searching. keep in touch with our friends and make new ones while you have the time 'cause you don;t known what will turn up. 

[Trunnion 74]

Christmas has come early!  

 

You couldn’t make this up.  Bought as working off the web, decided to test it, hooked up power, speaker and aerial, switched on, lights up, turned volume up and out blared Sister Sledge “We are family”! Followed by Elton John “Benny and the Jets”!

It’s still got 70’s music in it!!!  

I scoured the mic separately, it’s the right style, even has a clip on the back.  It has two connectors one 5 pin the other 3.  Unfortunately the unit connector is a 4 pin!  Still, I’m not too bothered if the mic won’t work, I’ve managed to get myself a working radio.

Happy days.  

Roland

[Berend72]

Nice!!! I also wondered which radio is fitted in the Lotus Eclat / Elite. Is this the one? Of are there more brands which were used by Lotus? 

 

[Trunnion 74]

Hi, Jan

The unit is a Philips 22RN712 Car Stereo Cassette Radio Recorder.  It features in all the interior publicity shots that I have seen and is the one everyone appears to looks for.  Not aware of any other factory fitted units.

It lets you to dictate memo's and stuff whilst on the move, for your secretary back at the office.  It was, after all, a vehicle made for the captains of industry back in the 70s.

During my search for one I got the impression they were rarer than a rare thing on a rare night in Raresville!!  I was lucky to get it as bidding got quite frisky towards the end.  There is a shop in Holland avertising one of these, if you are interested  NOS

  https://www.oldtimerautoradio.nl/a-45963682/philips-oldtimer/philips-rn-712-nos-radio-cassette-turnolock/

You might want to make sure you're sat down when you visit the page though, they're asking rather a lot of money for it !!! 

[PedalSpeed]

6 hours ago, Berend72 said:

Nice!!! I also wondered which radio is fitted in the Lotus Eclat / Elite. Is this the one? Of are there more brands which were used by Lotus? 

 

My 1978 has an Alpine.

[Berend72]

Haha, so there is a Dutch part in the Lotus    I keep an eye open for this radio, but not want to pay that amount. Of course this is probably totally restored and working.  Not necessary for me, just want to fit in a radio which should belong in the car of that era. 

[Trunnion 74]

 

History time again!!

 

I received a package the other day,  a folder all wrapped up in shiny gold Christmas wrapping paper!  It contained lots of information, and pictures, put together by the first owner of PKF 10M aka UEC 502M, Mr Peter Evans.

 

I will let Mr Evans tell you his story

 

Where to start??  At the beginning, of course!!

 

Wednesday 29^th May 1974

As I drove my brand new white Lotus out of Mayfield Garages in Liverpool, listening to Tony Bennett, telling me he 'had left his heart in San Francisco' on the fabulous cassette player (a new innovation for me), I was giving little thought to President Nixon and his Watergate tapes, or the Dublin car bomb which killed 23 people that day or that Duke Ellington had just died.

Although when I did arrive, later that day on the site of the new West Lanes Yacht Club that we were building on Southport Marina, I was rather concerned when the Architect for the scheme did say; "Peter I see you have bought one of Chapmans' 'get out and get under cars'!".

I suppose one can accept that a new car, featuring a revolutionary fibreglass body can be susceptible to small mechanical problems.   As my dear late brother-in-law, on one of our many trips to the Lake District commented, as the front trim to the windscreen fell off, or that parts of several wire fences on the local fells enabled the brakes or was it the accelerator control to be kept in position !?!

The first pictures of PKF 10M (plates 1 & 2)

 

 

were taken at our house, in the Lake District; like you with the rebuilding of your Lotus 7, from scratch; I have always had to have a spare time occupation, and this, for me, has been the conversion of a circa 1780 stone thrashing barn in to a second home.

Bought in 1971, what with sheep in it and a rotten corrugated steel roof, it has been a wonderful challenge and was eventually completed in the late eighties/late nineties!!!

All the family love it and all it has to offer owing to its amazing, rural and elevated position (plate 3) which shows the Volvo P 1800 ES I exchanged for PKF 10M;

PKF 10M did get the nick-name 'The Deer Stalker', when one Sunday evening, returning from a weekend working at Ickenthwaite, we caught a young deer in the front spoiler below the air-intake that had inadvertently jumped out of the forest, fortunately, it was all in slow motion, we locked up and the Deer, stood up, dazed but uninjured, shook himself down, gave us a dirty look and then bounced off over the adjacent stone wall back in to the forest.

Friday 10^th January 1975

We were not as lucky with our next incident; or perhaps on reflection, we were all extremely lucky!

It started off, like all pleasant evenings out celebrating the arrival of the New Year at a restaurant in Formby, some 10 miles away from home in Southport; my wife agreed to drive us all back home.

The weather was atrocious with very strong cold easterly winds. We were approaching an open area of flat land adjoining our local R.A.F. airfield Woodvale when the car was hit by a violent crosswind which forced us off the road, firstly clipping the outer kerb and spinning us in reverse to the inner kerb, across a grassy verge and then demolishing part of the concrete-post chain link perimeter fence of the airfield. During the collision, which tore the driver's door off, Janet was thrown out of the wrecked car (plate 4);

 

her landing fortunately, was in to the thick grass which did help to cushion her fall, she was amazingly lucky!

Plate 5 shows how little damage was done to the rear or indeed the whole integrity of the car.

See the enclosed press-report of the incident in our local newspaper 14^th January 1975.

Aftermath and repercussions

My wife, fortunately recovered fully from her injuries, although she was perturbed that her age was shown at 41 not 35 in the press article !!!

PKF 10M was transported from the crash site to Messrs. Cubley's Garage who were at the time an official dealer for Lotus Cars (also SAAB & Alfa Romeo) who were tasked with undertaking the planned repairs.

We understand that Lotus Cars were informed of the accident and were very interested in inspecting the severe lateral damage caused to the vehicle which was very difficult to replicate on the test bed.

Further to the inspection, it was decided that the car should be returned to the revered Lotus factory at Hethel near Wymondham in Norfolk for a complete repair and restoration and this, thankfully was approved and dealt with by our insurance company.

I was later told that Lotus were entering their new cars for the 'DON Safety Trophy' in order to gain access in to the lucrative North America car-market; you will doubtless be more aware of this than me.

I cannot be sure of the exact date, but it would have been sometime in March/April 1975, we were invited to visit the factory in Hethel to collect the car.

We were given a fantastic informative tour of the factory and were introduced to Colin 'chunky' Chapman ! then presented with a pair of stainless steel cuff-links engraved with the LOTUS badge.

Our son, a Lotus fan and particularly of the new Exige model, was shown the latest John Player Special Formula 1 racing car, (we suspect a type 72E) but unfortunately Lotus had no victories in 1975 coming 7^th in the World Championship with Ronnie Peterson and Jackie Ickx the drivers at the time.  A fabulous day was topped off with an exhilarating drive around the Lotus test-track with their current chief test driver with speeds of 120mph being achieved (plate 19)

PKF 10M was back on the road !!!

The final touch was to be awarded the contract, through our insurance company to rebuild the damaged fencing at R.A.F. Woodvale on behalf of the Air Ministry. The 14 replaced posts are still visible today........

 

To be continued

Roland