Darcy

I need to find replacements for the bushings at the bottom shock mounts. Are these available?

I did see the plates to prevent oil sloshing into the tubes. The bearings appear to be sealed, so I don’t think I will be drilling holes in them. Too risky. This thing is not going to be raced at Goodwood. I just need it to be oil tight and safe.

Making progress. I found a company in the UK that makes braces for Ford rear ends. Someone posted a picture of their products on the Lotus 7 Facebook page and I found the company: www.retroford.co.uk I cleaned up the rear end and welded them on. I did it slowly with small tacks, then larger welds spread all over the axle. Air cooled with compressed air after each weld to get the temperature down. I'm an amateur welder but I think they will hold. The car only has 22,000 miles so I was expecting the gears to be in good shape. Everything looked good. I noticed some interesting marks on the gears in the differential. Anyone know what they mean?

@EdWills Thanks for doing that. I'll aim for 1/4". Chris has made a number of great comments in the FB thread. I think it would be prohibitively expensive to send it down to the US, so I think I will do my best to add the 1/4" plate - very slowly with minimum heat. I will probably make up some kind of measuring method so I can see if the axle is deflecting at all during the tacking process. I have no intention of driving this like a modern Caterham, so I think if I can stabilize it, it will be ok. If I want a thrill I will jump on my KTM 1290 Superduke. It has 173HP and weighs about 425lbs. That bike makes your eyes go wide in a hurry.

@EdWills I noticed you said 1/4" plate. I have read from other sources that 1/8" is recommended. It seems like 1/4" would be really heavy?

Thanks a bunch! This will definitely help.

I have looked online for this catalogue and I can't find it. Was it digital or paper?

That's good information. I never thought about pulling the axles out before removing the full assembly, but that would make it lighter, and easier to work on while removing the brakes etc. I'm having trouble finding good information on the Escort axle - how to disassemble, check, and reassemble correctly.

Yes, it's coming out tomorrow.

Ok kids, time to get serious. Unfortunately, as I bring the car back to life, more "issues" are appearing. I might have just found the real reason the car was parked in 1974. As I fix and improve, my driving speed is increasing. Two days ago I noticed a tiny leak in the differential. Maybe a drop a day coming out. I thought that was weird. I cleaned up the surface, roughed it up a bit. Put a few drops of JB weld on it. Seemed to fix the problem. Investigate later I said. So, I went for another drive yesterday. A little faster. Goes around traffic circles at speeds that don't seem natural, but I was expecting that. Now I see a bigger leak and with some cleaning and close examination I see there is a larger crack on the back plate of the differential above the centre. I posted this question on a Facebook group, so some may have seen it. I got some good advice there, but I'm hoping for more suggestions here. I am a decent welder, so I am thinking of adding the flat horizontal plate that crosses the back side of the axle and differential. What I am wondering about is distortion. For those who have done this or had it done, how much will the axle distort with the welding? I'm assuming that it needs to be done in sections after tacking the plate on at a few spots. This the picture I took of the leak below the centre before adding the JB weld to the leak. It was practically invisible to the eye.

No, they are JBW wheels and balance was easy for the tire shop.

It's coming together.

Thanks. A local Seven owner loaned me his copy of the book and it fell into my scanner. Oops. I found an interesting link today to a repair manual for ancient triumph heralds and spitfires. You need an ad blocker because the site is terrible but you can read the document without signing up for anything. Some of it looks applicable: https://www.scribd.com/document/48540023/Group-4-Suspension-Steering

I did get some A frame bushings from caterhamparts.co.uk Shipping prices were nuts. I don't think I can afford to buy more from them. 6 pound package was 90 UK pounds. The bushings were an incredibly tight fit.

I had a question from a forum member for a couple of pictures. The fan motor numbers and the scoop on the bonnet. Also, the paint is coming back. I am using a dual action polisher with a fairly aggressive pad for the first pass. I haven't polished the bonnet yet. I think I'm going to keep the paint as is. It's a survivor with original paint. But the lustre is quite impressive on that rear fender. I think after two more levels of polish and it will glow. Darcy