David Mirylees

You'm right, the earlier wings came further forward and also sat much closer to the wheel. I really noticed the difference when I replaced my clad chassis along with the later wings in 1988. Got masses of front end lift and extremely light steering - just like driving on ice. I hated it compared to the feel of the older style wings. I now have vents in the wings which has given me back the feel and handling. I have seen a few examples over the years of the rearmost wing mounting pulling out (leaving a large hole) on those models without a mid support. I now use the mid support but fit them so that they push upwards against the wing using a hard foam rubber strip meaning that I don't require the mid fastener to go through the wing.

Steve, You're beast has changed somewhat since I last saw it!! Does the K&N actually kill the 'bad stuff'? I have the bottle now on order as my 'system' needs tidying up anyway. It'll make a change as (as you know) my 7 has been everyday transport for years and my engine compartment looks like a farmyard tractor - especially compared to you chaps 7's. Thks for the help. david

I'm thinking that, regardless, the system with the plastic bottle and routing to the underside is a far better way to go! I tried my local Halfords and Autobitz for the plastic bottle earlier today but , unlike years ago, they don't stock them................. Last question - where did you get yours from? Many thanks for the help. david

My breather valve unit appears to be smaller, grey steel and consists of a trapezoidal plate with a block behind into which there is a pipe (and presumably valve) pushed into it. I have no catch tank. The pipes from the valve and the cam-cover join via a 'Y' piece and 'exhaust' into the rearmost K&N filter on the carbs.

Thanks Phil! Was the "Black slab" a Ford part or a Raceline item? I have something similar but it looks to be smaller than the one fitted to your engine. Crikey, your engine istallation is clean and very impressive - I would not remove my bonnet in your company!!!! David

My 2.0L Zetec has started to chuck out bad fumes into the cockpit recently. As my 7 was one of the first 2.0L conversions, the breather was probably not set-up by me very well/correctly when I did the installation and now that the beastie is getting rather ancient the breather is probably working harder. Now that the Zetec has been used in a lot of 7's, can anybody throw light on the best method of the crankcase breathing pipework/system? TIA David

Just in case anybody is interested - this link is to the old (1968-1988) Lotus 7 Parts comparison list available many moons ago to club members - if it ain't accurate anymore please don't blame me. Some of the old X-refs may be interesting/amusing? http://www.david.mirylees.btinternet.co.uk/belowflying/lotus7partcomparisonlist.pdf david

Ah, Eugene, 88G274 - havn't seen that part number for many, many years! Austin A35 Top Link Bush :-) david

Changed the rubber bushes too many times in the past (oily motors and leaking diffs) - went over to a spherical joint set-up and have had to replace the bearing (easy) once so far in the 22 years it's been fitted. ....and yes, this is a high mileage car!! Parts available from Redline. cheers david

Have a look at this recent topic "Fluctuating Temperature Guage" I've had the same problem now sorted :-) - it may help you...... david

Successful outcome! For the record: Checked the voltage as suggested - negligible drop. Took a separate earth lead and touched it to one of the dash rivets whilst engine running and headlights on - 5 degree drop (no difference when the lead was touched to the dash itself). Decided to run a short individual earth from the battery to the horizontal scuttle and realised that the main battery earth was not 100% tight. Cleaned the terminal and bollocked up the bolts - problem cured. Would normally check this sort of thing but fitted a battery cut-out in 1988 so never do. I changed the battery in 2002 so it may well have been loose since then :-( Thanks guys for all the help! david

I having been using the XR4i 5-speed in my standard cockpit 7 since the late 80's. The gearlever is close to the dash but I have only crunched the knuckles a couple of times (in the early days). The lever is very short and sits quite close to the top of the tunnel but changes are fine and easy. (Cannot remember whether you have a long cockpit or a std car!) david

Done the bending bit - as you so rightly surmised :-) Mind you the first time was a failure as I had a non vented fuel cap and a mechanical pump on the (old) engine which collapsed the tank enough to cause the float to stick at mid-tank level - and yes, I did run out of fuel.......javascript:insertAtCursor(document.postpage.message,%20' *redface*') ...It was a long time ago and I hope that I now know better!

Thanks for the responses - I'll check the Alternator but that route is unlikely as the problem has existed for at least ten years and 70k+ miles!! I have not bothered too much about it but a few years ago on the way to the 25th Swiss meeting, whilst crawling through Basel, the temperature was showing maximum 'Red'. It was actually OK but very disconcerting at the time. I have also managed to run out of fuel (in the UK) when the guage was reading 'just' OK :-( So I thought that now was perhaps a time that I ought to fix it! david

My 1988 chassis Caterham has the problem of gaining +10 degrees on the water temp guage whenever the headlights or the cooling fan (etc) are operated. I have tried fitting a solid state voltage stabiliser (from my Europa) to see if it improved anything but it made no difference. Any suggestions as to the reason for the initial problem and a subsequent cure would be very much appreciated. Cheers david

Just to cover the whole sorry sequence of affairs........ Gower & Lee refuse to change the carbs (turns out they are 4 progression hole versions and not the 5's) their advice is that they have many 2.0 zetecs running on the 4 holes trouble free and I should take the car to a rolling road. Now done that (another £450) and the engine is as bad as ever. Goes like a train when floored but impossible to drive in traffic. Gower & Lee said they would get "recompense from Weber" if I got the rolling road bods to furnish a report. Course the RR bods were/are not keen to do this and state that they can probably get the car sorted if they had it for a week (yeah, and another £1200!!) but no promises. Apparently (source - Weber) the 4 hole versions were developed on behalf of GM but due to pretty well exactly the problems I have been getting, they developed the 5 hole version for the 2.0 Zetec. State of affairs now is when I took the car back to the RR a bright spark at the took the 50F9 slow running jets and opened up the side hole to appx 2mm and, although not perfect, the low end has improved with no popping and backfiring. (luckily they did this for nought as it was embarrassing that they could not improve the car previously on the two days they had previously played with it). Moral #1 If it ain't impossibly broke - don't fix it. Moral #2 Only buy bits like this from the "right" people. This has been an expensive exercise, I can't throw any more cash at it and the sellers really aren't interested in helping. All very annoying as I have been playing with twin carbs for more than 35 years. I really should have been able to fit a new pair of carbs and found - at the least - smooth basic running characteristics, just as I have in the past. EOF

Unfortunately personally cannot recommend Gower & Lee. They told me one of my 45's had the most bent spindle they had ever seen. I ordered a new pair of 45's for my 2.0 Zetec. and have been trying for 3 months to get the things to run. It appears that they supplied a 4 progression hole version (developed for the GM/Vauxhall) whereas Webcon said I they should have been a 5 progression hole version (developed specifically for the 2.0 Zetec) The car pops and bangs at any steady revs and all Gower & Lee will do is state "take it to a rolling road". (and yes, I have checked and changed all the electrical bits - just in case) Hope you get sorted. cheers david

The whole fiasco has cost so much now I think I would have been better paying a bit more and going for the complete injection system :-) Unfortunately rebuilding the original carbs was not a good idea as they had been problematic from the word go. Although supplied as a pair, one was a 45DCOE9 and the other a 45DCOE16 and even the choke levers worked in opposite directions (need a choke sometimes to start in mid winter as the car - until now - was my everyday transport). Initially, after a blat, the things would cut-out having run out of fuel but I sourced that to massively out of adjustment float levels. Gower & Lee told me that they were scrap and that they had never seen such a twisted spindle on my rear carb!!!!! Really thought buying new was the most simple and effective way forward - I am also hearing (now!!) that some chaps have horror stories with these new Spanish built units (my ECU supplier told me that he had a new pair on a customers engine that one barrel wouldn't work - eventually found, after removing some blanking plug, that there was swarf completely blocking a passageway.................... Ho hummmmm what do they say about hindsight................ david

Paul Turner told me that he had a similar (but opposite) problem and different emulsion tubes made the difference. I have asked Gower & Lee to let me have a trial of the recommended F4's (I have F16's fitted) I have tried many, many times over the last few weeks to contact James Whiting on the phone - I keep getting an answering machine - anyway, have actually left a message today so may get a response (James actually supplied the original, now scrap. carbs!!!) Thanks all for your help - I'll post the results and hopefully the cure if and when it happens (for the sake of future searches). I have now been 7-less for the longest time in more than 30 years - what a ******** up :-( cheers david

The new carbs have the 5 progression holes - actually the missing band is probably just when the butterflies clear these. Coil wires OK - I crimped them with great care to ensure all was OK.......... Looks like the rolling road is the only option david

Help! Short while ago listed a problem with the 45's on my 2 litre zetec where barrel No.3 was impossible to set an idle. Took the easy way out - thanks to my old dear - and got hold of a new pair of carbs from Gower & Lee. I now have a super idle and a very quick car at full bore but it's almost impossible to drive at any steady revs from 1200 to 3000 (which is where I spend most of my in traffic) as it misfires like hell. It is also almost impossible to adjust the idle screws as there is little discernible rev change, so they are out of the box at 2.5 turns. The balance between the carbs is showing as spot on using the crypton gauge and the butterflies are in identical positions when looking at the progression holes. There is also no hesitation when blipping the throttle so I assume the balance is OK. I also changed the ECU as the (very) old unit wouldn't recognise the latest weber thottle pot. The computer shows the throttle to be working correctly and the ECU supplier assures me that my problem is with the carbs. Unfortunately (for me) the carb bods answer is "take it on a rolling road". Not that easy and not what I expected (the carbs came jetted exactly as my originals) as I have managed for the last 36+ years on my own. Has anyone had and sorted a similar problem? What can I adjust next? Aplogies for the tome - just trying to think of everything :-( Cheers david

OK, butterfly screws are fine. Butterflies are visually sitting at rest identically. Venturi are fixed and fine. There are no air bypass adjusment screws on these old beasts - at least that appear anywhere that I have looked :-( I am thinking now that the best way forward may be to let Gower & Lee take them both and rebuild them to match. It is beginning to sound as if they are just getting old with the gremlins that lurk dormant for so long waking up!! Really frustrating when the basics of tuning cannot be applied. (I know, should have known better in the first place etc etc) Very many thanks to all that commented. cheers david

Thanks chaps - I'll get the carbs off and give the butterfly screws a good looking at etc. One thing I am unsure of - how does one adjust the airflow? I can adjust the balance and the mixture but I can see no airflow adjustment screw Ref the venturi - it (they) appear OK and were all wired for safety when I put the engine in cheers

My Lotus/Caterham 7 with a 2.0 Zetec, running presently on a (possibly) mismatched pair of 45 DCOE's (45DCOE9 & 45DCOE16). Although the car has run well over the last 10 years since the transplant, (apart from acting as though it has a "pit-limiter" when off throttle) I have found that it is impossible to set the throttle adjustment screw as the motor "ticks-over" at 1100 plus without any throttle screw contact at all (pressure on the throttle lever will reduce the revs but it returns to 1100 or more as soon as pressure is released) with the result that it is almost impossible to tune them. (I have a strong return spring on the main lever and also on the twin cables) I also note that the barrel on cylinder No.3 does not give any discernable "hiss" and my old crypton balancer gives a reading of 2 when all others are at 4.5, Also the idle screw, when removed, was of a black appearance as was the No, 3 plug. Regardless of this, when given some stick the beast still flies and examination of the plug immediately after a blast shows it as being relatively OK albeit a bit sooty. (can I say that?). My thoughts are that it is running rich on No.3 and I have checked the float level (15 / 8.5) and idle mixture screw a dozen times with no change. By the bye, main jets are all 135; Idle jets are: 50F8; Emulsions are F.16. Any helpful suggestions greatly appreciated (I have trawled back to 2001 - some interesting threads but couldn't find my particular problem) It's been a long time since I have had to play with these things........................... Many thanks david

You could make your own - I did and they have been magic for many years now. Also a plus is that you can replace the rubber with standard replacements from virtually anywhere. They appeared in Low Flying years ago - I am sure that Barry can find the piece if required........smile.gif