EdWills

Hi @pethier. According to the Standard Triumph Manual, and the Lotus Seven Owners Manual, both use the term 'stub axle' or 'stub axle shaft' to describe the one piece part that the wheel bearings are located on. Spindle is also correct to describe the part, but ordering a 'spindle' from a U.K. Triumph/Lotus parts source may lead to some head scratching possibly (but AI will help)? Cheers W.

Hi @San Augustine Understood, and my error, apologies. I should have added it to one of Darcy's posts on page 1. Sorry about that. Thanks for the confirmation on the Europa and Elan. It would be interesting to compare prices between the two countries, as shipping from the U.K. as noted by Darcy, has gone sky high. I recently ordered a part from Pegasus in the U.S. (only available from them), and they found a very reasonable postal rate for me. The cost of the item was below the tax level for Canada fortunately, so nothing extra to pay. Cheers W.

Found this out from a post by a Lotus Seven designer. He redesigned the front hubs for the Lotus Seven Series 3 in order to take the 4-1/4 inch bolt circle pattern of the Ford wheels to match the same bolt circle diameter of the Escort rear axle after supplies of the Standard Triumph rear axle dried up. The Standard Triumph steel hub could not be modified from its 3-3/4 inch bolt circle diameter to suit the larger diameter, therefore Triumph hubs as fully machined by them could no longer be used. He did not mention if the hubs were specially produced by Lotus, or sourced as blanks from Standard Triumph. The hubs for the Series 4 would likewise be required to have a 4-1/4 inch bolt circle. Would the Europa and possibly the Elan be required to have a different bolt circle measurement, or were the rear hubs still of 3-3/4 inches on these models? Cheers, W.

Hi @San Augustine and @Darcy. Just some info. that I added to another forum and found on-line regarding bushes used on Lotus cars in general. A poster had inquired regarding the source of a certain bushing, and a model of car (not Lotus) was quoted as the source. This from from AI: "Metalastik (often spelled Metallastic) is a famous historical British brand of rubber-to-metal bonded components, including flexible bearings and bushings, founded in Leicester in 1937 by engineer Mac Goldsmith. The brand is now owned by Trelleborg and distributed in the U.K. by Robush. Numerous car manufacturers used these bushes, including Ford, TVR, Jaguar, Lotus, and numerous other road and racing car manufacturers, plus kit car producers. Back in the day before computers, manufacturers would have catalogues of products from the various supply companies, and the car designers would source bushings and other necessary parts from the catalogues to suit the car they were designing. Although a Metallastic mount was used on say a Jaguar front and rear bumper, it was not exclusively a Jaguar part, as other manufacturers would make use of the same item (Lotus Seven 2,3 engine mount). Lotus would buy the bushings directly from Metallastic, not say Jaguar, as doing this would reduce profit margin. Although interesting to some where a certain bush was used on another car, I don't think it would be necessary for a rebuild of a Lotus Seven to source a set of bushings from all of the different car manufacturers who used a certain bush in order to replace it on a Seven (or even a Caterham 7), unless a required bushing was so rare and only available from another car company parts bin. I hope during the winter months (when it's freezing in my garage and too cold to do any work) that I will add a list of bushes with photos identifying the various part numbers of the bushes - used on a Seven - to my web site. This is not to say that Robush for example, will still have the same part number. Many bushes are probably metric measurements these days Chris Mintoft at Redline would be the go to for these bushes, unless he can no longer get some of them. Just a note: I am not sure if Chris uses Lotus part numbers. Mick Lincoln of the original Redline Components advised me ages ago, that he did not use the numbers from the Lotus Seven Owners Manual, instead relying on a description of its use or photo of the required part? @Darcy I would be interested to find out which is cheaper, purchasing - with the cost of shipping included - from the U.K. and the U.S. please? Cheers, W.

Very nicely done! The workmanship is excellent. W

Hi Darcy. Did you also order inner tubes for your Pirelli Cinturatos? I believe that Longstone Tyres recommend inner tubes even if the rims are steel or alloy. My car came from the second owner with Cinturatos fitted with inner tubes to the 5-1/2 J Cortina steel rims. He used 185s, but kept the spare as a 165 width. W.

Coincidentally, that is just about the correct metallic blue that my Seven would have had from the factory. Your car looks magnificent! I have seen a photo of a Seven SS twin-cam in the same metallic blue original finish. Regarding badges on a Seven. Although I had some back and forth communication with the Lotus Seven Registrar on the subject, most - and I do not propose all - Seven Series 3 cars produced after August 1968, and sold in 1969 - that I have seen in Canada, have the black Jim Clark memorial badge attached which may also have been fitted to Elans, Europas F.F. cars etc. The black badge may have carried over into cars sold in 1970 as Lotus was using them up. Not to get too much into it here, but a very good Lotus Elan site discusses the history and some disagreements regarding the use of the black memorial badge applied to some of the cars before this time. W No problem regarding the bushes. One company noted by @JohnCh sells a full set for $271.00 U.S., but not sure what the taxes will be on top of this? Caterham Cars still show some on their web site. Good luck with your refurbishment, and keep the build details rolling please.Cheers. W.

Hi @Darcy. Just a bit of info regarding your plan to strip your car back to bare alloy. I was just checking some original chromed bonnet catches and grey painted parts from my 1969 Series 3 Seven (fully constructed in October 1968 at the Lotus Factory, Hethel, Norfolk). I noticed that the original metallic blue factory applied paint that Lotus used on a few Series 3 cars shipped abroad, (and sold in the U.K.), had sprayed over onto these parts and had remained on the car without the two previous owners or myself removing the overspray. For this to happen, I'm assuming that the parts had to already be attached to the car? I am also guessing that Lotus were busy turning out the new Series 3 and masking tape (or similar in 1968?) back then wasn't as good as it is now or the newspaper wrapped tubing wasn't that well applied? It may also of course have been painted at the location in Canada where it was sold. On the BAT site, you were in contact with John Collier of Edmonton who also has an all yellow Series 3. You could check with him about the paint finish on his car. Also, the Lotus Seven Registrar should have a record of the colour of your car as it left the factory. The Registrar should be amenable to providing full details on the car, if he has them., as you are the new owner. He did not have any details for my car that was imported by the Lotus Concessionaires in Toronto, but I was able to obtain them directly from Lotus when I purchased the car. Cheers, W

@Darcy. If you check the web for Hagerty.com or enter "The Lotus Seven and a lightness of spirit" you will find a 'sister' car to yours. Second owner for 13 years was David Ellis of Vancouver B.C., who passed away some years ago. The car is now owned by Rory Banks of the Lotus Club of B.C. A Lotus factory built car similar to yours, all yellow, and in original appearance as per your car. It is possible both your car and the Ellis/Banks car came from the same dealership in Vancouver. Mr. Banks produced a YouTube video of his car, but it has very shaky camera work, and hard to make out any detail. I do not have the Lotus chassis number for the Ellis/Banks car. The bushes for the rear of the 'A' bracket where it attaches to the axle are Y16, and the front bushes of the 'A' frame are 636. Tony Weale in his book notes that the Y16 are a superior bush to the Y9s that are fitted to the front inner wishbone location on a Lotus Seven. Later Caterham 7s used the Y16 in place of the Y9 with a bolt and possibly a spacer in place of the spindle welded to the front of the Lotus frame.. W.

Hi Darcy. I have brand new spares of the bushes that you require for the 'A' frame, and you can have them for what I paid for them plus postage from Calgary to Kelowna. Let me know if this if of use to you. W

Hi Scott. You could reach out to David Kaplan, who has contributed to this forum previously. He is a wealth of knowledge regarding U.S. Seven manufacturers, including Pat Prince. Also, SimpleSevens.org has some information on Pat Prince (via David K). If you click on an ad for an ally nose cone (long ago sold), it shows the front of a Prince racing chassis. W.

Hi @theDreamer. The information you had may well be true, as it’s anybody's guess what happened all those years ago?’ I have not yet found a contact for anyone who worked at Universal, but I’ll keep trying. Any former workers would be in their 80s by now. It took me a long time to find any information on the company because all of the books on the Lotus Seven that mentioned Universal, stated that the company was located in Northampton, England, but this was incorrect. It’s possible that whoever mentioned the location to these authors were confusing the location with Cosworth, but again, that’s anyone’s guess. As almost anybody connected with Lotus in the formative years has died, any information is lost if it’s not been previously recorded by them. Cheers W.

Hi Scott. Lotus began production of the Series 3 in August 1968 according to records. Arch would have switched from the Series 2 and the 2-1/2 at this time probably, as they already had the same jig set up to build the Series 3 and just needed to add a couple of extra brackets for the S3. W. Not sure where the story of the ‘U’ on Universal Radiator frames being used for replacement chassis came from, but it would seem that the ‘U’ would just stand for Universal until Lotus decided that the ‘B’ or ‘BL’ should become the designation? The ‘U’ seems to have been used on 1961 and 1962 S2 frames, but not much later than that. Arch of course just used ‘AM’ for their frames with no lhd or rhd differentiation that I have found. W

Hi Darcy. Message sent to you. If you require a paint match for touch-up, please drop me a line. I found a source for the oil based paint (Graphite Grey) in Calgary. W

Hi @Darcy. Congratulations on your purchase. FWIW. Please be aware of any raised manhole covers (which seem common in my neck of the woods - Calgary), as that is what took my 1969 Series 3 off the road. I was sandwiched between cars either side of me taking a curve where the road was under construction for repaving. The collision with the manhole cover that was sitting about 3 to 4 inches above the road surface did a lot of damage. Lotus reckoned at the time that my sump clearance should have been 4 inches, but noted that my springs could have sagged. Apparently a bad batch of springs may have made it through onto the production line? I'm not sure that even 4 inches of clearance would have been that helpful though? I read somewhere that Mike Warner left Lotus after an argument with Chapman, and commenced the manufacture of alloy rims. When he returned to Lotus, the company introduced his rims to their product line. W.

Hi @Rodnok. I have seen a photo of a Lotus Seven Series 3 SS Twin Cam whereby the owner turned the electric fan motor around on the 3 sheet metal fingers so that the blades are much closer to the rad. If you want them even closer, you could possibly add spacer tubes to the electric motor? Those 3 fingers have been part of the chassis throughout the Series 2 and 3 run, but I have seen them cut off which is a shame, as they do give some originality to the car. And, as usual, great advice from @SENC and @Timothy Keith-Lucas If your chassis unit has the frame painted with middle graphite grey, which Arch seems to be using now on many of their rebuilds, I have the chemistry from Dulux, as I sent them a sample bracket from my 1969 Series 3, and they did a colour match. I recently had 6 rattle cans produced with satin finish oil paint in 'Lotus Graphite Grey' from a local paint supplier to the oil and gas industry. Good luck with your build. W.

Is it possible that Mr. Utt meant to say Carroll Smith, as Carroll Smith did do design work for DSK on their 7 according to David Kaplan. Not sure if Carroll Shellby was involved with the Caterham 7, but anything is possible? W.

@randomDMZ. Well done with your investigation. Sometimes frustrating trying to find out about the history of a car, but great detective work on your part in this case. It would seem that in the U.K. with the drying up of Standard axles that were prone to breakage, a number of Series 2 owners there chose to install a wider Ford unit, with corresponding Series 3 rear wings. Only a general question, but are there any Japanese sourced rear axles that would work? I believe that Caterham (and Lotus) attempted to source as many U.K. manufactured components as they could for their cars, but Lotus, later under foreign ownership, did turn to Toyota for engine/transmissions and possibly others? @IamScotticus has done a lot of research on the Ital/Marina axle. Caterham chose it for their 7 after the Ford unit, so, if supplies can be found, this may be the way to return to 'original'. Cheers, W.

Hi Scott. I have not viewed that many frames, (the alloy brake master cylinder casting covers most of them on the angled upper bracket of later Series 2 and 3 cars), and due to security reasons put forward by John Watson, John Donohoe, and others, there are a limited number of photos of stamped frame numbers provided by owners. J.W. on his Register does show a couple of them - with one welded in the same manner as on randomDMZ's possible purchase. If this frame proves to be a 1961/1962, the metal letter/number stamps used at that time may have worn out over the years, and been replaced with a different font style or possibly Universal had a couple of sets to use with different fonts? Only speculation on my part of course. If J.W. can provide all of the details he has on the car, it will be a great help for @randomDMZ to decide if the purchase is worth it to him. It would be great to know what J.W. advises. Cheers W.

That's the one. Many thanks for finding it. W

The frame manufacturers tag fusion welded on the frame is prototypical of how Universal completed their frames for shipping to Lotus in the early 60s. The stamped identification letter/number was later moved to the angle bracket that secures the Ford cast brake cylinder mount. W.

@randomDMZ @SENC, @theDreamer have provided great advice. Re: JW. Contact him at the Lotus Seven Register and see what he can provide. I have some records of North American cars (including Canada) that were kindly given to me by a couple of Lotus Seven enthusiasts who started a North American Lotus Seven Register, but had to abandon it due to other commitments. I found 5 Lotus Seven Series 2 cars all with 'U' followed by a 4 digit number, one a few numbers away from your stamped frame number. All 5 cars are/were registered in the U.S. as 1961 or 1962 cars as suggested by Henry @SENC. It would seem that Universal Radiator were using the 'U' in conjunction with 'B', but then went to 'B' for right hand drive cars and 'BL' for left hand drive frames after using up the 'U' designation (Arch used 'AM'). Modifications to Lotus Sevens has been going on ever since Mr. Chapman first designed the car. If you can get a copy of Dennis Ortenburger's book, he shows modifications to the car that would make Mr. Chapman turn over in his grave. Our city stolen auto division used acid to check for ground down serial numbers. It is a one time only procedure, as of course the acid will completely obliterate the writing after application. A camera needs to be at hand to record any numbers before they are wiped out. As Lotus fitters often just scratched the Lotus chassis number (V.I.N. in N. America), there is not much of an indent. I also agree with Scott who has noted in the past that if you want to stay original, oil paint is what Lotus used, and is easily touched up if necessary. You can powder coat, epoxy coat etc., but if any repairs are required, you will end up using oil paint over the repair anyway. Hard coatings are harder to remove, and grinding is not recommended - round wire brush in a drill seems to work o.k. and always wear safety glasses (like my hero Norm Abrams of 'This Old House'). I really appreciate mention of my website by both posters above. I apologize for any confusion, but 'Ed Wills' was my handle back in the dark ages when I first signed into hotmail in the early 90s and has carried over ever since. Cheers, William E.

Hello again Steven. I note that you already have the usa7s download - should have reread your post again- apologies. W

Hello Stevehello. The library on usa7s has the Caterham publication of the Lotus Seven 2,3 and 4 for reference, (or just the Series 4 at 'barnblinker.com'.), and a Series 4 owner by the name of Andrew Barron published what I would call a thesis on the Series 4. It was originally under the 'Connexions' web site, for free download, but 'Connexions' closed down.. I did find a trace of it at 'sevener.fr' (google: 'Lotus Seven Series 4 design analysis'.). I originally printed off some pages that I was interested in, and these are numbered 131 to 134, and Chapter 5, so Mr. Barron really went into detail about the Series 4. If you can find the article, it makes great reading. A noted authority on the Lotus Seven Series 4 is Hajo Steffen in Germany. He has a wealth of information regarding the Series 4, and was in contact with Alan Barrett of Lotus who provided him with photos and background about the car. Hajo is on Facebook Germany. Good luck with your project. Cheers W. P.S. $229.95 U.S. for a book? Phew, wonder why it hasn't been republished?

Hi @jmaz. Glad you have found what you were looking for. Apologies for lousy photo, but if the Gates 'T' piece doesn't work, the photo showing the Pex 'T' may be better? I have shown 1/2", but 3/4" the same. I totally agree with Scott that brass would be a better choice, the barbs will probably hold better, and the brass looks nicer. Cheers W.