jbcollier

It is possible to induce small amounts of toe in with a live axle, especially with Sevens if you are bracing the axle. Whether it is desirable or not, I don’t have the expertise to say

Yeah, I also have a Lotus Europa and some chaps on the lists add metal reinforcing bars to their doors. “Great” I say, “ Just as long as you are hit by another Europa, you’ll be fine.” Basically Lotus Sevens (and Europas) have the crash protection of a motorcycle with 70% less visibility. Drive carefully out there. I drive like I’m naked and invisible. Even then it can get a bit exciting at times.

Battery and fat feed to the starter on one side and everything else on the other. Disconnect the negative battery terminal (to rule out draws and shorts). It should read “0”. Hook the battery back up. Any change? There shouldn’t be. Turn on lights. It should read negative. If it reads positive, then the ammeter is hooked up backwards. The generator/alternator feed goes to the opposite terminal on the ammeter from the terminal the battery is hooked to. All the ammeter does is measure current either flowing into, or out of, the battery. It does not measure system load or charging current.

Could just be all the bushings settling after being replaced. I set mine to 1/16” after a rebuild. Soon found the steering to be flighty and induce significant sphincter puckering. Checked the toe again and it was a 1/4”! Reset it and it drives like a dream now.

S2 caster is not adjustable. The only way to do it is to physically modify the lower suspension arm. Some people try to force an adjustment using shims but this will place loads on the trunnion and upright they were not designed to take. YMMV

1/8” is a bit much. I would go with 1/32” to 1/16”. Try that first.

What was the Caterham part number/application? Obviously you welded on new brackets for mounting it. Did you have to cut off the original fan brackets? Thanks

Answered on another forum. Turns per mile is good and a 10k tach was used as well as the more common 8k tach.

If you have an original speedometer, what is the turns-per-mile rating on your speedometer. Mine is 1040 and I just want to check if that is original. PS: Do yu have an 8K or a 10K tach?

Well, I can assure you it will be worth it. I worked 35 years on sports cars of all flavours. Drove them all and owned a few myself. The Seven is the quintessential expression of a car where nothing is superfluous. A minimal amount of suffering for maximum joy …as long as the top is off, that is.

Yipee, it's turning over. You absolutely have to drop the diff assembly out and inspect it. At a minimum it will need a good cleaning and new bearings. Hopefully the gears will be useable.

Good "antifreeze" also: - contains rust inhibitors that can keep corrosion at bay for many, many years, - inhibits galvanic corrosion which can be a major problem with dissimilar metals linked by water and then heated, - raises the boiling point. If it never gets cold then it probably gets hot. Either way, using good quality "antifreeze" is important. Myself, I would go 50/50. 60 water and 40 antifreeze would still be ok. If you have track days where water is required, make sure you drain it afterwards. Do NOT leave the water in place. I've worked on lots of old jags and they really suffered from head corrosion due to lack of regular coolant changes and the poor quality of coolants available in the day.

They are yanking your chain. It's not mandatory to post pictures but sure appreciated. You have a nice S2 project there, congratulations. Unfortunately the diffs are a weak spot on the S2s. Power kept going up but Lotus didn't up-rate the diff until they switched to the Ford diff for the S3. I have an S3 and, while I appreciate the extra strength, the Ford diff is also physically longer. That means wider rear mudguards. The narrower rear of the S2 is much better looking. All the best with your project!

Don't fly blind! Get and read the S2/S3 manual in the downloads section!

Actually, the Dexron coolant will make deposits with just air and heat. That's one reason why they have sealed systems. It is very important to keep any coolant system using Dexron orange full. As to flushing it out, which engine is this? If it has a brass radiator and cast iron block and head, then you can flush with diluted muriatic acid. You can't use it if there is ANY aluminium in the system as the acid has an almost explosive reaction with that metal. If it is a crossflow, just remove the intake manifold and reinstall it with plastic blocking coolant from the aluminium manifold. Water pump is a little trickier but you can fit a blanking plate. Next fill it up and let it sit for a half hour. Then flush, flush, flush with clean water. It really, really works well BUT NO ALUMINIUM!!

I have installed a few of the 123ignition distributors. Absolutely wonderful product, well made, easy to work with -- bluetooth model, the laptop programmed ones are a bit more of a fiddle -- and dead reliable. The only issue I ever had was a missed programming step because I went from memory rather than reading the instructions (oh, the shame). First and foremost, the green light has to come on. However, on the Bluetooth versions, the green light shines through a clear cover the side of the distributor, right next to the incoming wires: The static timing is set by setting the engine to the #1 timing mark and then rotating the distributor body against the direction of distributor rotation until the green light JUST illuminates. I always make sure I'm on #1 firing TDC by removing the plugs and sticking my finger on #1 spark plug while slowly rotating the engine. You'll feel air pressure when the piston is coming up on the compression stroke. Also remember that some engines are 1342 (almost all) and others 1243 (some Fords). Then unit is wired: red to coil positive (ignition feed) black to coil negative blue to ground (I usually ground it to the distributor body itself) Just leave the vacuum port open if you don't have, or want, vacuum advance. To program, just turn the ignition on, turn on bluetooth on your phone, and use the standard 1234 password to sync. Set the curve as you like and remember to SAVE the file when you are finished programming (I forgot this and the unit kept reverting to the base map). Now start it up and double check your timing at idle.

I've just been experimenting along similar lines: Works very well. Agreed that the windscreen mounted deflectors did jack. It's not perfect yet as they are too flexibly mounted. Will come up with firmer mounts next. You still feel the wind but the pulsing, aggressive buffeting is gone.

Lotus Sevens are not overcooled. Take it to a rad shop and get it tested and probably rodded out at a minimum.

Just undo the four fasteners to free it up. You don't have to remove the rack.

https://www.instagram.com/redlinecomponents/?hl=en

Redline sells an aluminium version. Doesn't come with the upper air baffle so I made up my own.

The mounts for the front plate holder:

Here’s the original bracket for a 69 S3:

Reverse bleeding is used where there is a large height difference between the master (high) and the slaves (low). A good example would be on a motorcycle or scooter. Emptying the master and using a large syringe to push fluid up from the caliper, works very well. Reverse bleeding is not normally required in automotive applications. To fill and bleed a dry system proceed as follows: - first bleed the master cylinder. Best done on the bench but it can be done in situ. Either direct lines/hoses from the outlets back into the reservoir, or hold your fingers over the outlets. Slowly pump the master until no more air comes out. - now install/hook-up the master. Crack the lines at the master after installation to let any air inadvertently admitted to flow out. - open the farthest bleeder and slowly pump ten times (very small reservoirs may only allow 5 pumps) and check the level. - repeat until clear fluid is flowing. Close the bleeder and move to the next. - now repeat the whole cycle but with three pumps or so. If you keep getting air bubbles, the obvious culprit is the master cylinder. Pressure bleeders: - most amateur pressure bleeders do not create much pressure, far less than can be obtained by simply pumping the pedal. - most amateur pressure bleeders do not replenish the reservoir while you bleed. - can be very very messy Vacuum bleeders: - can inadvertently draw air into the system as brake systems rely on pressure to maintain seals. Keep a jug of water handy and immediately rinse down any areas where fluid may have escaped. Some systems have air pockets that are impossible to bleed by normal techniques. For example, some cars have slave cylinders with bleed nipples at the bottom of the cylinder. First you bleed as best as possible. Then you use a pedal jack to apply pressure overnight. This will cause the excess air to be absorbed into the fluid. Then you flush the system with fresh fluid -- otherwise the air would just reappear over time. If you don't know what you are doing when changing a light bulb, the repercussions are minimal if you make mistakes. This is NOT true for brake work. If you are not experienced, get help from someone who is. Learn under their tutelage before attempting brake work by yourself.

As noted, many people just carry the plate with them and produce it if asked. I have also seen people make up a sticker of the plate and attach it to the nose cone. An original Seven had a bracket like the rear spare tire/license bracket that slide into mounts on the front of the chassis. I have one for mine. It's very ugly but fortunately there are no front plates in Alberta.