Timothy Keith-Lucas

With you, Speedwagon. I seem to have hit a nerve here - we've all had experiences with over-torqued lug nuts. Anyone got a link to a source of replacement studs? I was in my seventies before I understood the principle here - that you torque nuts (not just lugs) into their elastic range so that the bolt and nut form a spring clamp holding the two parts together. When you torque into the plastic range, you actually lose clamping pressure, and as Speedwagon says, you've got a time bomb on your hands. Some bolts (particularly aircraft) are torqued and then tightened 90 degrees, for maximum holding power, but they are one use only. Go over the 90 degrees and you have to start over with a new very expensive bolt.

With you, pethier. After years of waiting while little compressors did big jobs, I broke down and squeezed a real compressor into my over crowded shop. Damned good investment. It helps having a wife who restores Ford Model Ts. MV8: Thanks as usual. Tire Rack discourages using torque rods, I suppose because they are not exactly precise. I'll use a good torque wrench, but I don't do many tires. For a garage staffed by Florida Good Ol' Boys (Love 'em, but the headlines are a constant source of dismay), torque rods seem to me the most practical solution. Even if the boss just put an 85 ft lb rod on the air wrench, and all their vehicles got that, it would be better than everyone getting 200+ ft lbs.

Time to rant. I rotated the tires on my Miata yesterday. The generally very good local mechanics shop had mounted them when new. Not even my air wrench would loosen them. They were on so tightly that I sheared a socket adaptor when trying to loosen them with a breaker bar and extension. Someone simply does not understand torque/elastic range/plastic range when it comes to lug nuts. Fifty years ago a truck tire bouncing down the Interstate killed the wife of one of my colleagues. I wonder how many of those YouTube flying tire incidents are the product of lug nuts being over torqued.

Actually, that's a vent used to direct leaked engine oil and coolant onto the windscreen. It's very effective.

It's been about ten months since I took my 1962 Series 2 out of service for paint and refurbishment. Thank you to all the learned members of the forum who have kept me on track and stopped me doing really stupid stuff along the way. I appreciate your help. Now I'm getting used to driving her - at night for the first time early this morning.

Try: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115839540878?_skw=vintage+side+mirror+set&itmmeta=01K6D6Z3Y41N4359PRYCE6HHTD&hash=item1af8931e8e:g:TKQAAOSw0UdXs5zC&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eGNP1A9OHmzsoOXM%2F7lUcC3YTAMzB9i8KtwZs%2B1yvqREjiy%2Bl9uS2A7nSaJK7N8aO3gZ34ChwceF4VkADfsIYhnZUoM8AhDpnFQxlN2mGcS3a%2B8x4YQSEDR9GgzUVAXRgdNGofuIxcqR1%2BrLiyndTfh8KhorTJq%2Fi9wDAVAcGVTqnZOAdigjE3kBJ7Kct2k42oNV0dEoN1zMJlmUuuOzyJCbohvfee45InMIY9ZMGMIe3tvdUYr%2F4bkJwwA4dcL3RtqnzzB8BHtka2dcFfElxdLcorlO56qILxrDBwg3QJZg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5y__KazZg or: https://www.ebay.com/itm/125243104860?_skw=vintage+side+mirror+set&itmmeta=01K6D6Z3Y46756K3B664HWB0DS&hash=item1d29121e5c:g:LJAAAOSwyPFcKs7c&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eNcze4RQS11QazbkTNKlZLgCoDUQN5RDUfpNsoVID2mPUbRE8xwTTBt7Kf4layLZkuwD9kH%2BawcA4Dyjc3Qcqe6O7%2FdEtkbIR1yV7UkU0ZrJTJGsYqznOfsynZ17mUzRwhAWT64uF%2BFVkImCv5iMobBXcScMGLdlAuzqCRiTD0IWxQ%2FQNj19L8ivp4m8lNIHubAfToKgf0m1aYEDr5t7nuGOLFF4ZJ6nE7V2uB2i3oMVXCLLmY%2FueoKU9N6%2BH7zY%2F3B1GtmgLPDAEeij7yZQx6zcWhYew91yMCK0J6JbFYTA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5y__KazZg

Oh, Poot! It was so much fun being able to include "V liftoff" among the specs for a clamshell 7 at car shows.

I wonder just how many Lotus Sevens are registered in the United States?

Hmmm. I suffered an electrical fire shortly after purchasing my right-hand-drive series two, and her racing history predated battery cut-offs. Getting to the battery to disconnect it involved getting out of my harness and then four latches and a belt buckle. I also noticed that the fire extinguisher, under the dash on the left side, was hard to deploy. So, I designed my own lanyard that both disconnects the battery and drops the fire extinguisher onto the floor on the passenger (left) side. In the first photograph is the battery disconnect and the red paracord headed for the firewall. The cord has a loop that catches the extinguisher quick-release latch and then ends in the knot in the second photograph just in front of the passenger. The cord can be pulled by the driver without releasing his harness or by someone else on the left side of the car. I test it from time to time, and it works.

I have 1962 S2 SB1160. She had a distinguished racing history in the northeast US, sat in storage for many years, and came to me as the second owner. I've made her into a working road car with minor car show attributes. I'm a relative newcomer to the forum, so I can't speak to the number of original Sevens about, but there certainly exists on the forum a wealth of knowledge about the originals. Members have helped me out many times in the last few years with their wisdom.

The positive earth tach from UK eBay has arrived and is installed and works. The only blip was that RVI "accessory" tachs do not ground through the case. They require a separate ground wire to the frame. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I have enjoyed and most importantly learned from the shared wisdom. A very useful source for our tachs is "A Gentleman's Guide to Classic Smith's Electronic Tachometers" put out by the New Zealand Triumph Club as a PDF at https://triumphclub.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/A-gentlemans-guide-to-Smiths-tachometers.pdf That's where I found the note that mine needed a ground separate of the case to frame.

Thank you, Senc. Great stories! I think the good news here is that a part shipped September 2 did not run into US tariffs or delays that I and others have feared.

I ordered a tachometer on the UK eBay September 2. It shipped the same day via the postal service and arrived in Florida on the 12th. The shipping cost was L29.50, and no tariffs were noted. That's pretty good. But, I do note that the Customs Declaration was, shall we say, creative. It was called "Old Dial," the value was listed as L60 (I paid L188) and it was called a "gift" rather than "sales of goods."

Oh, how much fun it is to refill the coolant in my Seven. It's a long process of burps, boil overs, and out and out geysers, all blown aft by the engine fan, covering the car with slightly rusty coolant so the car and I need a bath when it's over. Then, of course, it wasn't really over, and we have a second session of burps, boil overs, and geysers. Just how many places can this system hide air pockets that have to be driven out, making burps, boil overs, geysers, and coolant all over my Seven?

GORGEOUS! Let's see some other pictures as well. I hope to follow in your footsteps.

Lotsats, you speak with wisdom. I think I've resisted that move because each problem seemed small relative to the task of conversion, as in "how difficult can it be to buy a new tach?" Then I find that it really is difficult to buy that tach. I'm also scared off by "All you have to do..." because that phrase often precedes months of figuring things out while I have no local guidance. And, I've invested in a positive ground alternator, etc. Maybe the day will come. Thanks for the reminder.

The tach has been shipped without tracking information. I'm holding my breath that it will appear on my doorstep. I definitely will report on my experience - I just hope that placing the order with UK eBay was not the endo of it.

Hmmm. My trashed tach already was converted by Clocks4classics. Thank you for reminding me of this route. With one tach on the way from the UK, I think I will open the trashed tach and see what its potential is for a second go around.

Thanks to you all for your help on this frustration. Straightcut - I bought the UK Ebay mini-cooper tach. Thank you SO MUCH for the lead. I think that I will put a dummy in the place for appearances' sake, and shift by sound until it arrives. It will be a delay - I hate to close up access to the back of the panel from the top before I finish the wiring. Actually, I do have an agent in the UK, but I won't need my cousin Christopher's help on this one. Check out CKL Developments Ltd.

I've tried everything, and not found an 80mm/3.15" positive earth electric tachometer. Moss doesn't have them, eBay doesn't have them, my Sprite engine doesn't have a mechanical port, zip. I've tried isolating a negative earth tach and burned out that sucker in a few seconds. 95mm tachs don't fit between the top and bottom frame on the panel. Does anyone have an answer, preferably in the US given the international shipping situation?

Thank you, Toldfield. I've printed out a copy.

Having had to explain to countless visitors at car shows that my wife, not I, restored her 1924 Ford Model T, and that my role was limited to handing her tools, and that she loves no birthday present more than a pile of rusty antique wrenches or a gift certificate to Harbor Freight, I get your point. Let's hear it for Hazel Chapman's inspired creation of the Lotus Seven.

I've been going through the forum library and really appreciate the people who have contributed to it. Colin Chapman grabbed a lot parts off the shelf when he put together the Lotus Seven. They are identical to Triumph and MG and so forth parts. But the parts houses today don't list Lotus Sevens, and you're dependent on recognizing the part in an exploded view in guessing that this is the one you need. Sometimes there is not a picture. Has anyone annotated a Lotus Seven parts list for where Mr. Chapman borrowed the parts? I'd love to see "(MGA 1961)" beside a Lotus Seven part listing.

More bang for your buck! Use enough and it might remove the tire from the rim for you. Reminds me of the time I tossed a can of starter fluid into my burn barrel....

Perhaps the final word.... The air gun on the end of my air system didn't supply enough air fast enough to seat the bead on my wheels, despite having 60 gallons of 175 psi available, due to friction loss. A very simple rig of scrap 3/8" air hose, a ball valve, and some fittings solved that problem.