MOTOR CHAT
- Thread starter velomaniac
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jimihendrix
MacRetro Rider
Re:
Well i've had loads of fun this week breaking down in the Lotus
, broke down right outside Argos Paisley 9.30 Tuesday morning which was a right laugh, lots of friendly busses and taxi's tooting their horns and giving me a wave (i think it was a wave ?), people taking pics on their phones of the hero in the vintage Lotus (or maybe look at the Fanny that's bought a crap old Lotus ?)
Anyway after pushing it around most of Paisley (great exercise), a bit of head scratching i've discovered that the coil is overheating, so the car starts fine from cold. tricks you into thinking it's running fine then dies after 20 minutes, one of the previous owners very cunningly messed around with the wiring so the coil is getting the full charge from the alternator.
Got a ballast resistor ordered so once i fit that and sort the wiring it should be fine i hope
Bought a set of nice leather Mazda MX5 seats for it last week, will need a bit of adapting to fit but will look far better than the worn out originals, will also be more comfy to sit in while i'm broken down somewhere
Well i've had loads of fun this week breaking down in the Lotus
, broke down right outside Argos Paisley 9.30 Tuesday morning which was a right laugh, lots of friendly busses and taxi's tooting their horns and giving me a wave (i think it was a wave ?), people taking pics on their phones of the hero in the vintage Lotus (or maybe look at the Fanny that's bought a crap old Lotus ?)Anyway after pushing it around most of Paisley (great exercise), a bit of head scratching i've discovered that the coil is overheating, so the car starts fine from cold. tricks you into thinking it's running fine then dies after 20 minutes, one of the previous owners very cunningly messed around with the wiring so the coil is getting the full charge from the alternator.
Got a ballast resistor ordered so once i fit that and sort the wiring it should be fine i hope
Bought a set of nice leather Mazda MX5 seats for it last week, will need a bit of adapting to fit but will look far better than the worn out originals, will also be more comfy to sit in while i'm broken down somewhere
highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
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Full on week of spannering for me so far. Just got done for today with Transit. Ball joints, cv boots, brakes all round and bled, couple of track rod ends, full set of winter tyres on and balanced, tracking redone and tomorrow will be rewiring most of the back end and then spraying old oil all over her bottom! The joy! Winter is on its way, so the time is now to rock and roll!
Full on week of spannering for me so far. Just got done for today with Transit. Ball joints, cv boots, brakes all round and bled, couple of track rod ends, full set of winter tyres on and balanced, tracking redone and tomorrow will be rewiring most of the back end and then spraying old oil all over her bottom! The joy! Winter is on its way, so the time is now to rock and roll!
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jimihendrix
MacRetro Rider
highlandsflyer":2ud9eg2a said:
Nice
, does the oil spraying work ?, thought about doing it myself on the Disco, maybe over the top of the Waxoyl. Bullpup":2ud9eg2a said:
Ha, no chance, as the shape is kind of estate like it can be deceptive but the rear seat is fixed and the boot is tiny.
In fact the bucket rear seats are really only suitable for someone 5'7" or under.
Boot area, large black thing is the fuel tank which is right behind the seats, above that there is a fixed glass screen to seal the boot/tank area from the cabin.
If you are looking for a practical classic for dogs etc a Scimitar or Capri would be better IMHO.
To try and sort the running problem i fitted a ballast resistor, this is to replace the probably rotten Lotus ballast wire, car started and ran fine, right up till hot and the fans cut in but coil is still reading 10.2 volts and is still getting warm but no where near as bad as it was(ideally should be 9V) so going to fit a second ballast and run two in series to see if that helps.
Managed to score these leather Mazda MX5 seats to replace the originals, this was a good find as the originals are beyond economic repair and these shouldn't look out of place.
Other news i got the Disco back together and it seems to be running fine, with new pistons, big end shells, head gasket, valve stem seals, injectors, Turbo, glow plugs and £1200 spent on parts alone this year i should blody think so.
After doing all this work it's definitely a keeper.
jimihendrix
MacRetro Rider
Bullpup":1phz6om2 said:
Na, standard location is in the lower right corner of the boot, i wanted to run a bigger battery so mounted it there.
Standard boot is fully trimmed too but this car lost all that a while ago due to water ingress.
Plan to tidy it all up, pull the tank out and give it a coat of paint etc, going to fabricate a parcel shelf too to cover it all.
highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
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Re:
Have you thought about shoving an Optima or similar in the original space?
We have them on most of the off road vehicles, they can frequently end up sat for long times with lights, etc. on and have electric winches and such.
Don't really know if underseal is better than oil, we use gear oil and the benefit is how well it penetrates and applies, and I have seen with my own eyes the damage that can be hidden under underseal. Mind you, I reckon a lot of that is thanks to people just daubing on without preparing properly. A steam clean and a couple of applications of oil a year seems to be good for long term results.
Hopefully you will have your Disco on the road for the winter, don't fancy the Lotus in the snow!
McLaren seem to have taken over the mantle for the higher end lightweight sports cars now, I wish Lotus would bash out a new Esprit or something! Oh wait, they are going to!
Here is the new Elite:
" V-8 Blossoms for Lotus
The Elite’s 5.0-liter V-8 is based on the mill in the Lexus IS F, but it has been reworked and force-fed—although whether that means turbo- or supercharged remains to be seen—with swagger-friendly results: 542 hp at 8000 rpm in the standard car, 612 at 8000 in the R-Spec trim. Both will come only with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, which recent patent filings suggest was developed in-house. A hybrid model will sit atop the range. Lotus hasn’t released details about the gas/electric system, but the setup likely pulls some technology from the company's 414E hybrid concept shown at last year's Geneva auto show. A steering-wheel-mounted “push to pass” button will allow drivers to briefly boost power, much like the KERS systems deployed in F1 for the 2009 season. Lotus estimates that the Elite will run to 62 mph in as few as 3.5 seconds and that the high-po version should reach a top speed of 196 mph."
Crikey, you would REALLY need that 'push to pass' button!
Have you thought about shoving an Optima or similar in the original space?
We have them on most of the off road vehicles, they can frequently end up sat for long times with lights, etc. on and have electric winches and such.
Don't really know if underseal is better than oil, we use gear oil and the benefit is how well it penetrates and applies, and I have seen with my own eyes the damage that can be hidden under underseal. Mind you, I reckon a lot of that is thanks to people just daubing on without preparing properly. A steam clean and a couple of applications of oil a year seems to be good for long term results.
Hopefully you will have your Disco on the road for the winter, don't fancy the Lotus in the snow!
McLaren seem to have taken over the mantle for the higher end lightweight sports cars now, I wish Lotus would bash out a new Esprit or something! Oh wait, they are going to!
Here is the new Elite:
" V-8 Blossoms for Lotus
The Elite’s 5.0-liter V-8 is based on the mill in the Lexus IS F, but it has been reworked and force-fed—although whether that means turbo- or supercharged remains to be seen—with swagger-friendly results: 542 hp at 8000 rpm in the standard car, 612 at 8000 in the R-Spec trim. Both will come only with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, which recent patent filings suggest was developed in-house. A hybrid model will sit atop the range. Lotus hasn’t released details about the gas/electric system, but the setup likely pulls some technology from the company's 414E hybrid concept shown at last year's Geneva auto show. A steering-wheel-mounted “push to pass” button will allow drivers to briefly boost power, much like the KERS systems deployed in F1 for the 2009 season. Lotus estimates that the Elite will run to 62 mph in as few as 3.5 seconds and that the high-po version should reach a top speed of 196 mph."
Crikey, you would REALLY need that 'push to pass' button!
jimihendrix
MacRetro Rider
Re: Re:
Never considered an Optima Battery, will look into that. Trouble is i already paid £80 for the Battery i have and £20 for the mounting tray :facepalm:
Will give the oil a try, the Disco chassis is heavily surface rusted in places (predictably), agree about the treating of the rust, i scraped off the worst with a chissel, treated with Kurust before enamel then underseal, trouble with rust is you can only slow it down, once it's in the steel it's either cut out or replace to cure totally.
The Disco is on the road now , got it running on Friday and re-newed the insurance yesterday so i'll be laughing at the snow.
Still have my mates Defender too, he doesn't seem to want it back :roll:
The new Elite is ok, figures are very impressive, i find it hard to get interested in modern stuff, the new Elite is certainly striking looking but i find most modern designs bloated, ugly and overcomplicated.
highlandsflyer":3mqj36tj said:
Never considered an Optima Battery, will look into that. Trouble is i already paid £80 for the Battery i have and £20 for the mounting tray :facepalm:
Will give the oil a try, the Disco chassis is heavily surface rusted in places (predictably), agree about the treating of the rust, i scraped off the worst with a chissel, treated with Kurust before enamel then underseal, trouble with rust is you can only slow it down, once it's in the steel it's either cut out or replace to cure totally.
The Disco is on the road now
, got it running on Friday and re-newed the insurance yesterday so i'll be laughing at the snow.Still have my mates Defender too, he doesn't seem to want it back :roll:
The new Elite is ok, figures are very impressive, i find it hard to get interested in modern stuff, the new Elite is certainly striking looking but i find most modern designs bloated, ugly and overcomplicated.
