paul_w

I've taken this :-)

Hi Will - Blatmailed you back with my mate's contact details yesterday, not getting any notifications for messages or new comments so was slow getting back. Cheers Paul

Not mine, but a good friend is selling a few sets of wheels that might be of interest to those with older (style) live axle cars: http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/195814/sets-triumph-etc-25mm-wheels He's in North London. If you're interested blatmail me and I'll put you in touch to save registering on Retro rides

my project is a bitsa around a discarded original chassis, so no history, and worth a lot less when done, but I'm happy with that as I'm spending a lot less than one with paperwork, and mine will actually have more original Lotus in it than most of the historied cars around! Buying early cars is an expensive minefield, not least because in quite a few cases there is more than one car making a claim to a chassis number... I'll stick a thread up about it in Chit chat when I get a bit of time.

ah thank you, I shall try that...

Thanks Jonathan, would you mind sharing the trick please? :-)

oh, and I don't yet know whether I'll be selling the wings, I'd need to find some others first that are a better fit! But if I can, then they would be a better bet for you - there seems little point in me repairing wings to fit the kink in the body side, and you getting some S1 wings and cutting them the same as the ones I already have

FJ Fairman in Bodmin do the panels. The kink is because the radius arms are on the outside of the upright, I've tried to take a picture of mine but it doesn't show it that well, hopefully you can see what I mean, the cockpit sides taper in by the seat area: https://goo.gl/photos/yCdwZMNLMVB3kPyd7 (sorry still haven't figured out a workaround google photos preventing posting images to forums so you'll have to click the link)

oh, and the s1 has a significantly narrower track as well. There's no reason why a reasonably convincing tribute couldn't be built, but much harder than doing an S2 :-)

bolt on adaptors as in that kit are commonly used, though I think machining is involved to ensure the offset is right - Mike Brotherwood did mine. Regarding the offset, remember that as 15in wheels the requirements are different due to kingpin inclination - generally a larger diameter wheel will need less offset than a smaller one. I think the original steel wheels were 3.5, whereas the optional wires were 4in. Many people use 4.5in as they are significantly stronger for racing. are you aware that the biggest giveaway will be the fact that the side of the car near the seats will be straight whereas the S1 has a kink in it? if you are going ahead with a replica then we should talk about rear wings - I have a set of GRP ones that have been cut to fit a flat-sided car which I was about to repair but might be better for you if I can find some others (or find the money for ali!)

cheers, I need to give them a call about a few items, I was just trawling ebay for some other parts and figured if I know the car from which it came I might pick one up - I'll be repainting it anyway so second-hand isn't a problem...

Hi - does anyone know what car the early under dash handbrake is from or have a part number (or for that matter, one to sell)? strangely, Caterham seem to have one in stock, but I can't help thinking I can probably get if for a third of the price if I can work out what it was taken from... I thought it was Mini, but that doesn't look right, and it seems to have been the same part since '57, which would rule that out...

I couldn't get my head round it either, but the guys at S&C (who are ex-caterham staff) confirmed it - apparently they couldn't stop them overheating with one in and so didn't bother. Which is a bit of a poor show...

I've fitted a thermostat following the advice from Firemang in post #13 here: https://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/vx-16-8v-thermostat?page=1 which was cheap - a stat off ebay and some extra pipe - and it's worked a treat, no trouble with overheating and no need to keep blanking the rad. And it runs better when it's somewhere near a sensible operating temp. I didn't say the engine was bad Elie, just that they have a reputation - I've noticed they get slagged off a bit and even when I test drove mine - which was sluggish at the top end - the dealer told me that's how they all are. When I got it back home I found the throttle was so badly adjusted it was only getting 2/3 opening at most. Funnily enough it was a lot perkier when that was sorted out. I've also changed the emulsion tubes to lean the bottom end and it's improved it. I quite like it, plenty of mid range, gruff, old school feel but keeps the oil in better than the Kent-based engines I've had experience of. I'd even say it reminded me of the twink in my mate's Elan if that wasn't blasphemous ;-)

as I understand it, the big block/small block is how Vauxhall people describe the two different kinds of four cylinder SOHC 8v engine from that period. the one fitted to Caterhams was a 1.6 version of the big block, so related to the 1.8/2.0 cavalier engine (not the 1.4/1.6 units that went in Novas etc). Caterham also fitted 1.8 versions as a supersprint upgrade. I *think* the 2.0 is a taller block so might not fit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Family_II_engine lists the C16NZ2 - when I've bought parts for mine it's come up as from the 1.6 Vectra and they've fitted ok! Caterham skimmed the head to up the compression and rated them as 100bhp. They have a bad reputation, but for a road engine the fact that they have a standard cam makes them a flexible tourer, and they're still not exactly slow compared to normal cars. The main issue from my point of view is the lack of a thermostat, which is rubbish, and the fact that Caterham jetted them rich to make up for the engine always running cold, it's like having the choke on all the time. I've improved mine a bit but there is more to be done over the winter...

Mine improved just by fitting F16 emulsions - it's still too rich, but not as bad at lower speeds or around town when the fumes are more noticeable. I'm intending to do mine properly over the winter so I can let you know how I get on :-) Have you fitted a thermostat?

I've had similar where there was crud in the tank - as the fuel is drawn through the pick up it gradually attracts the crud and blocks the end of the pickup. the car sits and all the crud falls to the bottom of the tank again, so it starts up again fine and runs for a while. An old Spitfire I had drove me mad with this, and when I pulled the tank and drained it I found a pile of leaves in it (I can only assume put in there as a 'hilarious' prank...)

Mine does the same when the oil is hot. If it is like mine then it has the pressure gauge in bar which was mostly used on cars with more modern engines, I raised it with Tim at Sevens and Classics and he pointed out that 4 bar (the mid-point of the gauge) is 60 psi which is plenty for an old school engine. So I haven't worried about it - it heads towards the middle of the gauge when revving so I figure it's fine :-)

I'll take the gauges for my Dad's HPC please Tim, will blatmail you :-)

and could I take the outdoor one please? I could probably pick it up this weekend if that's ok?

pics would be good if you have them - can you see what size it actually is from the label at all?

Thanks Brian - I won't be able to work on it again for a few weeks but I have since seen a similar age car at S&C that had a right angle bracket on the bulkhead with the hard brake line looping across to it, so maybe that's what it had rather than on the chassis as in other pics I've seen. I will either make a similar one or finish the one I started that bolts to the diff mount (might be a little less flexible!) Cheers Paul

the first thing I bought off the caterhamparts ebay account was a gauge which turned out to be cracked, not in transit - it looked like someone had overtightened it when fitting. They refunded my money, but the impression I get is that they are just listing odd stuff they find lying around, and they might be lying around cause something was wrong with them when someone tried to fit them a few years ago!

The rusty one isn't ours no, though it was worse than this before its trip to Arch! That ally ledge isn't there on the earlier cars, so I'm making a bracket that will bolt on to the diff mounts to save welding to the newly coated chassis. Frustrating as I only get a weekend every couple of months to work on the car, and between the fuel tank and the brake line that was a whole day wasted on jobs that should have taken no time at all, and both due to Arch not restoring the chassis the same way it was brought to them.

Hmm, a bit of google image search seems to show what I think is the bracket that's referred to, which definitely isn't there, so I'll have to fab something suitable. Grrr... http://www.mycaterham.com/mediac/400_0/media/DIR_39305/DIR_115119/rust_1.jpg