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Gary, Try this; When the gearbox is separated from the bell housing, check the runout of the nose piece hole in relationship to the crank. Attach an indicator to the pressure plate and run it's tip against the inside of the 4" (or so) hole in the back of the bell housing. Any more than .015" TIR can lead to front seal and bearing failure in most gearboxes. Although these were not type N gearboxes, I've seen some aftermarket bell housings with incorrect dowel and bolt boring locations that created the problems you seem to be experiencing. Also, check the condition and fit of the spigot bearing in the crank. A worn (bushing type) or incorrect size (needle type) bearing can cause seal failure as well.

Were's it leaking from?

Dan, I'm assuming this is a Lotus or Caterham; Remove the scuttle and firewall as a unit. This will make wiring and instrument installation quite simple as well. Do a search on BC and find the sequence of tasks that you'll need perform to make your scuttle removable.

The Britax trailer house tail lights (introduced on the S3 Lotus Seven SS Twin Cam) and the Triumph front uprights are still used. There may be other bits as well.

Al, YHM

Use the ratchet strap method. It eases the column out of the bushing holder without any spectacular events. Put a 2X4 behind the roll over bar so you get a straight pull with the shaft.

7V, Good to meet you at Skip's the other night. The picture you sent of Jeff's Lotus Seven SS Twincam at the CSU Moby Gym car park certainty brought back memories. I think that was my first autox, probably about 1978 or '79. I was only dreaming about Sevens in those days. Paying for school relegated me to a well used '69 Mustang. I think I scored 3rd place in mod 1 under the old RMSCC rules. Hope to see you in your new Seven soon. Maybe we can put together a front range Sevens gathering one day. HPR might make a good(fun) meeting place. BTW...There are two other red and alloy Caterhams stalking about Colorado, A Cosworth BD(x) in Boulder and an Xflow in Ft Collins. This is the color combination I often dreamt of having one day. Had to settle for BRG. Oh well, I got to liking it. Cheers,

If it's mounted on a ricer, it's called a trolley handle.:jester:

Well, as usual, work has trumped my efforts to sneak away for the Wyoming tour. Car's back together and seems to be running good...but...work projects that were impossible to get commitments on, are now coming home to roost. Naturally, everyone wants their stuff completed ASAP. With the crippled economy, I can't afford to turn down any work. Bottom line, I won't be able to join up with the tour at this time. Have fun:(

Most of the justin.tv streams dried up. Found the race again on http://jonny-place.webs.com/jonnystream2.htm

Two new feeds of Eurosport 24 Hours Le Mans coverage, in English. http://www.justin.tv/sportzonemotors http://www.justin.tv/jonnytv11

Rumor has it that the justin.tv feed will be http://www.justin.tv/sebz33 See you there.

Rich, Last year this was the best feed I found. Interesting real time commentary from viewers around the world as well. http://www.justin.tv/directory/sports You'll need to search about the site to find the correct video stream Saturday morning. They do interrupt occasionally for a dog show or some such barf, but the posters will have figured out an alternative stream somewhere else on the web to get you through the gap.

A Brooklands adaptation would be quite a challenge. I imagine it would have to piggyback onto the inside wingnuts with a bracket of some sort, or be bolted to the scuttle strap. Might look a bit cludgy at best, and not very aerodynamic. Currently, a convex SPA centerpost mirror is probably the best choice for Brooklands and aeroscreened cars.

Gert, I'm on my third Colvern TPS. They seem to be manufactured of cr@p. The first two Colverns quit working. I'm only guessing the wiper inside stops making good contact with the resistive substrate, like the volume pot on 1980s Ford car stereos. Here's what I think might make a good substitute.Standard Motor Products TH265. It's a Ford escort part so availability should be no problem. The hole is the rare single "D" type that the Jenveys require. I imagine it will require an adapter plate to put the screws in a favorable position. not sure about spring rotation, but I think it's the same as the Colvern. The standard part is only 20 clams or so. I may buy one and do some experimenting. FWIW...Mack Jackson at emeraldperformance.com was keeping a few Colvern pots in stock. Woody Harris may have some as well.

Chances are, that's the heater valve control. It's usually placed on the scuttle firewall above the driver's knees. Of course, the former owner may have had it control something else; enrichener/choke, landing gear, ejection seat, etc. Follow the cable under the bonnet and see where it goes.

He, he. No, turn indicator power is interupted when the ign is off to keep you from draining the battery when the car is parked. It's bad enough that blue rinses in Buick LeSabers will drive from Chicago to LA on the interstate with the left turn blinking the whole way.

A relay sends power to the indicators when the ignition switch is turned on. When this relay's contacts are open, (ignition switch off) only the hazard lights will work. It's a MOT safety requirement to allow hazard signal activation without the key in the ignition. The indicator relay is the upper right hand one on older chassis. I can't remember which one it is on the later model chassis like yours. Replace the relay and see if that's the knackered part. You may be able to swap it with the horn or headlamp relay to see if it's bad. "If in doubt, swap about" Both hazards and indicators use the same flasher module. Your flasher module seems to be OK since the hazards are in working order.

The Caterham switches have copper contacts, probably a holdover from the Lucas days. The copper corrodes quite readily in high humidity environments. Since the hazard switch is hardly ever used, the corrosion issue with this particular set of contacts is exacerbated. I suspect these switches were specified to ensure one the full on experience of a dodgy electrical system, while enjoying the ownership of their fine English sportscar. I've toyed with the idea of buying a small dobb-on jewelry silver plating kit to fix this issue in the Caterham switches. Never got round to it.

It looks like office furniture...

If you have a Caterham, the hazard switch is notorious for corroding and making the indicators fail to work. Try turning the switch on and off repeatedly to wear the oxide off the contacts. If this doesn't work, the switch can be disassembled and cleaned. A warning though. There are some springy bits that will be liberated at escape velocity when you open the switch up.

I have a real problem with watering eyes when driving the Se7en. Most times I can get away with Oakley M-frame/Heater sunnies, but when high speeds and crosswinds are the order of the day, I switch to Wiley CQC tactical goggles. The Wileys come with an extra clear lens for driving after dark as well.

And the most important tool in the shed... Birmingham screwdriver = hammer

I've been looking at the engine bay again. I'm back to thinking the neatness of dead heading the fuel rail has more benefits than any other issues. Although the engine bay gets quite toasty, I've never heard of of heat soak in any injected Sevens. This whole exercise in fuel system plumbing has cost me two 25 foot rolls of aluminum tubing. Not expensive, but frustrating. I keep seeing better routing AFTER bending the current route. At least all the fittings are reusable and the cutting, bending, and flaring is kind of fun. Now my recycle bin looks like a spaghetti factory.