solder_guy Posted June 24, 2007 Author Share Posted June 24, 2007 Also bought a few more Ladies' belts at the thrift store to better secure the spare tire in place. Three are better than one. See the pic on the back cover slip of Robert Ortenburger's book, Lotus and the Independents. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share Posted June 25, 2007 We put the car up on a lift yesterday .. First we had to put down 4 pieces of wood onto which we rolled the car .. to get enough clearance to allow the four lift pads to fit underneath. Then the first thing we noticed is that the two rubber fuel lines are dry rotted and terribly close to the drive shaft at the differential. So we replaced both fuel lines .. and then fabricated a bracket and screwed in place to secure both fuel lines away from the shaft. Of course I did spill gas all the way down my shirt in the process! :cuss: Car is running better .. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 Did some fine tuning of the dual Mikuni Solex carburetors today .. the car is running great! Also worked to make the bonnet hood fit better at the nose cone .. not perfect but better. Time to drive to the pool! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted August 18, 2007 Author Share Posted August 18, 2007 Update: Ever since just before 7/7/7 my car has been blowing multiple fuses .. thus it's absence at 7/7/7. Well after some frustrating troubleshooting which went nowhere .. :banghead: This morning I finally thought to isolate all four turn signal flasher bulbs and test the connection to each one. Well I isolated the problem to the left rear light assembly. With Rotus you have to jack up the car and remove the rear wheel to get to the back of the light assembly. There I discovered that the tire had rubbed the insulation off some wires .. which I had previously covered with electrical tape! Thus one wire was shorted to ground! After more electrical tape I decided to make cardboard spacers to permit an extra 1/2" spacing af the assembly away from the tire. Looks ugly .. but I don't care as I'm going to replace these cracked fenders and mount new Caterham light assemblies in a month our two. So now the Rotus is back on the road again! :hurray: Well I do have to correct some troubleshooting destruction .. :banghead: DUH! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobDrye Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Not to be hard on you, but have you ever heard of heat shrink? I think that rear fender clearence between the tire and fender is almost always close. :cheers: :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted August 19, 2007 Author Share Posted August 19, 2007 have you ever heard of heat shrink? Of course .. but I did not want to cut and splice the wire .. I think that rear fender clearence between the tire and fender is almost always close. That's why I'm going to trash it! BTW: I received the TOPGEAR vanity plate in the mail today. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 That's why I'm going to trash it! BTW: I received the TOPGEAR vanity plate in the mail today. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted September 17, 2007 Author Share Posted September 17, 2007 I've been having trouble with the horn working reliably through the Grant Security System that I have. It is the old design with a 1/16" pin which protrudes and can bend! So I finally got fed up .. and got the newer design of the Grant Security off eBay .. and it is much much better --- It has two tiny button conductors in each of the two connecting parts. So now the horn works every time! I'll put the old Grant System up on eBay soon for people who do not care about the horn function. I had to put more insulation on the taillight assemblies today .. the tires keep rubbing it off !! All will be replaced when I mount my new fenders. Also today I put wrenches on every bolt in the front suspension .. all turned with little effort. So I will take apart the suspension probably tomorrow and send the Koni Shocks back to the company to get them rebuilt .. and the suspension parts will go to the powder coaters .. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted September 29, 2007 Author Share Posted September 29, 2007 Finally got around to attacking that Supra rear end that I yanked and bought at the junkyard this past Sunday. I dismantled the disks while my friend attacked all the existing brackets with a metal saw and chisel. Then I grinded all the rough edges to make a clean solid rear axle. It's not LSD .. but I'm keeping an eye out for one from an '80-'81 Supra. Now to drop the Corolla rear end .. make cardboard templates of the Rotus Brackets and then ask my friend to fabricate and weld. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Drove the Rotus to the mechanics' shop .. it's now inside .. and today I stripped all the little bits off the body and windshield off .. mirrors off. Tomorrow .. I diagram the rear light wires .. and then all the fenders come off .. in preparation for painting. Still need to modify the Supra rear end (disc brakes) and switch out the Corolla rear end (Drum Brakes). We'll get down to the bare bones tomorrow! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Got her up on four jack stands today .. took apart the front suspension and removed the two front Koni shocks. Then with a friend's help .. we got the springs off the shocks. Also removed the two front hubs ... Then removed the two front clamshell fenders .. That's all I had time to do today. Now to send the two shocks back to Koni for a rebuild and repaint. Now I go to work for 24h. It's terrible when work interferes with car shop time. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 Gotta love air guns! Made taking the suspension apart .. a breeze! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobDrye Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Gotta love air guns! Made taking the suspension apart .. a breeze! Rob When we went 600 miles on the mid-september blat I carried a bag with over $1000.00 worth of impacts powered by 36 volt Li-ion batteries, but it was Steve Taylor's giant hose clamp and a screw driver that fixed the problem. In a modern repair shop we use batteries more than air, but air is still "great" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 Beginning to get the small detailing done that this car deserves. So far I've ... Removed all the stupid plastic rings around each of the VDO gauges. The reason for the rings is that the holes for the Speedo and Tach were cut too large .. so the rings held these gauges in place. So my brother in law is cutting two small metal rings with his drill press for these two gauges. My friend welded some additional metal to the front clam shell fender supports so that they will support small amber LED torpedo lights ... with the wires running through the tube back to the frame. We've been sanding and priming and painting the two front turn signal lights. Also beginning the process of mating the two rear fenders to the existing body holes. As I go .. I've been replacing rusty hardware with stainless steel nuts and bolts. I've been thinking of Keith Tanner's method of shoehorning standard bucket seats into his locost .. well I found some smallish seats from a Honda Passport in the back lot which feature removable headrests .. they might fit the bill. And I grabbed the wide rear view mirror from it too. I like it because I can position it higher at the level of the top of the windshield. Thinking of spraying pickup bed liner into the floorwells .. which are so discolored over time. Supra rear end is on hold .. because the junkman came to the shop and hauled away scrap metal .. which included the supra calipers and brackets! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted October 27, 2007 Author Share Posted October 27, 2007 Got the seats out .. got the rivets and bolts out to get the covers off the tunnel and fuel tank .. what a rusty hulk! Plan is to make a new aluminum one .. It's just some aluminum sheet that is protecting me from the spinning driveshaft .. We are going to weld some loops in there! Also the hand brake is supported by the aluminum cover. So it will be welded to the new loops .. I sure wish that the junkman had not grabbed my supra calipers and brackets :cry: Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locostv8 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 ...Thinking of spraying pickup bed liner into the floorwells .. which are so discolored over time... I plan on doing the tub inside and out with Linex, possibly making polished covers for show want to drive not polish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 I plan on doing the tub inside and out with Linex, possibly making polished covers for show want to drive not polish. I'll have to look into Linex. Today I got the rusty fuel tank out .. the last little bit of fuel that we drained had rust in it. Definitely time to upgrade to aluminum. I learned about a feature that I was previously unaware. The shape of this tank is an upside down U which straddles the diff. Well there are two gas drains which lead to two gas lines which run the length of the tunnel to near the gear shift knob. There the two lines are tied together via a valve which selects which of the two lines to pump from. So when I are running on empty on one side of the U, I can turn the valve to drain the other side of the U while I look for a gas station. Maybe I'll keep this setup .. unless someone has a better solution. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locostv8 Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 ...I'll have to look into Linex... Most of the DIY bed liner is just heavy-duty paint. Linex is a two part polly and can be sprayed on any thickness, in fairly thin coats it is quite lite. The thing I like is that it has a lifetime guarantee. Instead of spending most free time polishing you just use a pressure washer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted November 30, 2007 Author Share Posted November 30, 2007 I've been trying to recover from the loss of the supra calipers (which the metal junkman took from the shop) :cuss: So I've been weighing my options. Maybe buy Mazda's rear end if it will fit my car. Maybe trash my existing rear end ... etc. I just bought a sand blasting box. ($20 0ff eBay) So today I was blasting the front springs clean. Tomorrow I will blast the rear springs. I got the Koni shocks back from Koni in Kentucky. Totally rebuilt. So after I prime and paint the springs I can get the shock assemblies back together. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 So behind in getting anything done on the car .. just too busy at work ... Rob http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/664646353_Franklin7.GIF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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