SENC

A primarily photo update, but pulled the engine and gearbox in recent weeks - currently sorting the gearbox and prepping case for painting (along with a spare I've had on the shelf). Internals look great. Have also dropped the rear axle and removed dampers and springs all the way around - having them checked and, if necessary, rebuilt.

Equally interested in the history of your car - thanks for sharing! I've had a good time building history on mine, and know how fun it can be learning new tidbits. Well done!

I think we're going to need the full story!

Welcome! Can't wait to see how to get wine from gears, will save me a lot of $$$! ...Back after watching - beautiful car, sounds great, and fun road! Well done!

Thanks gents, good stuff! If you develop a technical section for Lotus Sevens, I'm happy to contribute the various bits I've collected.

Merry Christmas all! My daughter's gift to me:

Agree with @Bent Wrench - chased a similar issue on my pre-crossflow through HT leads, dizzy and cap, etc. before finding weak valve springs on 3 while doing leakdown testing and checking valve tappet clearances.

Congratulations?

Congratulations! Can easily imagine the smiles you had on the trip home!

Pulled the cam cover this evening to check valve/tappet clearances, do another compression test and a leakdown test. Though running strong, had some notchiness at idle and low rpm/low load running and idle mix adjustment just wasn't working right on 3 and 4. Compression test was perfect, 175s across the board, but leakdown test showed some air loss on 3 - then discovered weak valve springs. This likely explains the challenges I was having adjusting idle mixture screws on 3 and 4. So, will start the search for valve springs and will pull the engine in the next few weeks. This will give a good opportunity for a more complete inspection, and to pull the gearbox for a good cleaning and rebuild.

I've been tweaking on the Webers a bit the last few weeks as weather permitted - Colortune confirmed I was a bit rich at idle and through the range, yet I was needing a larger idle jet and accelerator pump jet to solve the slight popping on overrun and the slight hesitation from low RPM to WOT. My latest tweak was to try one of Keith's w45 idle jets. Since I don't have a way to measure manifold vacuum on these old manifolds and carbs, I took a guess that they'd be on the weak side with the slightly more aggressive Cosworth cams and chose his w-jets over his hypo-jets (for engines with stronger vacuums). The idea behind his idle jets is to allow a more consistent and predictable mixture from the idle jets throughout the rpm range, as from his perspective and testing one has to use richer jets than necessary at idle/low rpm to make the desired smooth transition to the main jets. His w-jets are themselves tweakable with exposeable air holes to adjust mixture at a small scale. Testing yesterday was a nice leap forward for me, with a much smoother transition, further reduction and maybe elimination of the popping (will need to drive more to confirm), and continued strength and power above 3k rpm, where this engine is clearly happiest. Also got to take a close British friend and car guy for a ride yesterday and for him to give it a drive - fun for both of us. Thought I'd also share the following recommendation I posted on lotuselan.net, as some of you here might find it useful, too. Like many, I've become accustomed to digital navigation aids and most of my old road maps have found their way to the circular file. I use my phone and either Waze or Google almost exclusively in my daily vehicles, but there is something about the simplicity of the Elan and Seven that won't let me mount a big, ugly, modern phone even temporarily. These cars also beg to be driven by road signs and conditions as seen through the windscreen rather than digital alerts. Having said that, there have been several times I've wished for a simple nav aid rather than stopping to pick up my phone to look for directions, general or specific. I watch indiegogo and kickstarter from time-to-time, and a couple years ago noted a neat system for bikers from a british company, called Beelline Velo. They've since released a version for motorcycles called Beeline Moto, and I picked one up a month ago to trial - and think it is as good a fit for our cars as anything digital can be. It is a small puck-shaped device that simply points in the right direction and notes the direction and distance to the next turn. It works via an app and gps on your phone, and you can download the app and try out the functionality without purchasing the device. As a bonus, the relatively basic app allows a simple way to plan a multi-waypoint (up to 23 I think) trip if you're trying to take the scenic route. I haven't yet determined where I'll mount it on the Elan, but in the Seven it peeks out just below the dash and through the wheel - out of the way, inobtrusive, but easily visible when I want or need it and easily removable for use in another vehicle or on a bike. Thought some others here might find it useful. https://beeline.co/pages/beeline-moto

You have my vote! Had a ball doing just that today.

Love that S2 with twink, though there doesn't appear much 1961 left in the car. Good looking and bet it goes like stink, but a high price for a bitsa.

:rofl: Always good to have two-wheeled deer-sweepers! Actually, these 2 passed me about 5 miles earlier, headed for this same stretch of road. They were just getting off their bikes for a quick break when I turned in - so we had a good long chat as they wanted to know everything about the little car they hadn't quite shaken. I was pleased with how it handled. I did the front end alignment using the string method and based on how it felt I'd say I hit pretty close. I'll recheck it after checking all the fastenings to confirm. I think the engine is running a touch rich, so will tweak a bit more on the jets, but overall it pulls extremely strongly and smoothly.

Other than a little rattle I haven't been able to locate, yesterday's shakedown drive was a major success, with no significant issues identified until I pulled back into my driveway. On attempting to backup into my garage and on my ramps, I couldn't find the reverse gear. It had been a little wonky at a stop 15 miles before for a hot dog (the world famous Paul's Place, if you're ever in Rocky Point, NC - and a stand I've been stopping at for well over 40 years), but had worked. So , I pulled in forward and let her cool over night. A preliminary assessment of the reverse problem was job 1 for today - and I knew I got lucky as soon as I opened the tunnel - the dome/cup that holds the lever in place in the remote had worked its way free, so lifting the gear lever was pulling it out too far. A little cleanup and a dot of blue loctite on the threads and I should be good to go - may even have been some of the rattle I was hearing! I changed the gearbox and engine oil to give me a chance to inspect, both looked pretty good. A few brass specks in the gearbox oil, but very minimal debris of any sort. The engine oil wsa a bit dark, but no metal or debris. I'm debating pulling the engine and transmission this winter to take a good look inside, but with what I'm seeing plus how she drives I'm not sure I'll need to. I'd like to get a few hundred miles on it this Fall then see how both look to decide. Looks like a rainy week to come, so will take time in the evenings to check and retorque nuts and bolts on the suspension and brake systems since this was the first meaningful or stressful mileage since rebuilding them - but otherwise feeling more comfortable with this little old car on the road.

Took my Seven out for its first drive of any length, a shakedown drive on the suspension and carb work - a little over 80 miles and a couple hours of smiles. Also took the opportunity to experiment with a GoPro - next time think I'll mount higher and a bit forward. The video is a 7-8 mile stretch in the middle of my drive (I need to learn how to cut/trim). We don't have much in the way of "twisties" in ths part of the world, but this little piece of road had been recommended to me (and to a couple of motorcyles I came up on at the start). A fun little jaunt.

spectacular!

Installed a new tonneau cover from Redline today, looking more and more like it did in 1966... And finally got my little yellow car home and out of hibernation, after making some space in the garage.

That would be great, Ron, I'd love to see. When you have time, no hurry.

Ron - what are you using in your 62 Seven? Mine doesn't have any belts, and at some point I think I will add some.

Great pictures, sorry the weather didn't hold out.

Starter rebuilt and reinstalled, so back to tuning and tweaking. Also learning how to record better sound while playing.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing, and sounds like a great day. Hope you get a full day in tomorrow and look forward to seeing more!

Excellent! Need a video and some sound!

Looks fantastic, can't wait to hear about the drive!