rjwooll

I had the same issue - here is one of the things that can prevent registration: 1) Anyone who tries to sign up with an aol, hotmail, gmail or yahoo email address will not be allowed. If you require to use any of these email providers simply send an email to the administrator from the email address you wish to use and you address will be allowed The email address is [email protected] See you on there! Richard

Give the collets a good squirt with penetrating oil and brush/scrape them as well as you can - there could be gunk stuck under the prongs preventing them from compressing fully. That's what I did yesterday! And when you use the jubilee clips tighten them fully and then some more. Most have a hex head so I used a socket to achieve this. Even then, it didn't go through - I had to tilt it towards me to get the rear prong(s) in the hole then push the front prong in with a screwdriver, and yank the cable hard from behind at the same time. Whoever designed this particular piece of engineering should be forced to carry out at least 40 removals on well used cars! Good luck, Richard

If I were you I'd go for the ZF 4 speed auto as used on the Excel SA - it suits the engine much better. It won't fit the Elite chassis, however, and I'm not sure whether it's feasible to modify the chassis to fit.

The maximum centrifugal advance on Spec 3 is 32 degrees at 3000 rpm with no further advance beyond that. Timing at idle is also high at 16 degrees advance. If the advance is artificially limited at say 2000 rpm, then you'd only get 24 degrees which would have the effect of progressively limiting power further up the rev range. Does your stroboscope show advance increasing up to 3000 rpm according to specification?

Are you sure the distributor advance mechanism operating correctly? I've heard of situations where a screw in the baseplate stops full centrifugal advance movement and this can cause the problem you describe, especially if it feels as though you are losing power as you approach 4000 rpm. Richard

Regarding fuel smells: my wife is particularly sensitive to these and I've done a couple of things that have helped on my car in order to encourage her in: 1. Check and remedy any disconnected or leaking vacuum pipes that control the heater. They must blow as well as suck!! 2. Check your ignition is correctly set up. If the timing is too advanced then, at idle, the mixture may burn incompletely leading to a noticeable fuel smell outside the car. Retarding the ignition to correct any over-advance works by allowing the mixture to complete combustion in the exhaust ports/headers apparently. ATB Richard

The Powerspark dizzy uses a set of springs supposed to suit a wide range of cars. I don't know the timing characteristics of their dizzy, but as your car should have a spec 5 engine (I think), there should be no vacuum capsule and, in addition to 9 degrees static timing, the advance mechanism adds up to16 degrees between starting at 1000 and finishing at 3000rpm. It would be worth seeing if Lotusbits have a decent used distributor. If so, it should have the appropriate oil seal. All you'd need to do is fit the Powerspark module in place of the points (they are available separately if you can't re-use the one you have.) If you can't find a used distributor in good enough condition, you could send an old one to someone like Distributor Doctor for refurbishment. Good luck Richard

Agreed. If you want a bit of fun, watch a modern day Ferrari or Lambo trying to get onto a ferry ramp while you just drive straight on!

Yes, they're clear to me as well but if you don't read them carefully you can come unstuck (as the esprit owner above amusingly did!) The thing that initially puzzled me about the timing on some engines was the vacuum retard function. I hadn't come across that elsewhere but I can understand the reason it's used. Richard

I like that story....!

Well its good someone was inspired to do this - however as the original designer, Oliver Winterbottom, might comment, it's easy to draw a nice shape; what's difficult is to integrate a design with practical and dynamic requirements such as accommodation, engine/drivetrain position, fuel tank/battery/spare wheel, crash resistance, suspension layout and characteristics, aerodynamics etc.. If you read his autobiography it is amazing what he achieved in designing cars; not only did he create the shape which met the practical and dynamic requirements but also a costed production 'bible' with all the parts and processes detailed. For me, the Elite remains one of the best integrated automotive concepts - certainly of its time. ATB Richard

Hi there yes my timing isn't great! It's difficult to directly compare US and European spec cars as the cams and carbs are also different (and there may be air injection on some cars - Californian spec?) The timing on spec 6 engines (early esprit, US spec) can be compared with spec 5 (European spec.) The mechanical advance characteristics are very different - spec 6 advances all the way up to 6000rpm while the spec 5 tops out at 3000 rpm. At idle and typical steady speed rpm (say 2000-3000 which would have been used for emissions testing) the mechanical advance is less on spec 6 than spec 5. Add to this the fact that spec 6 uses the 8 degree retard vacuum canister and you get significantly more retarded timing at idle and steady speed. At higher rpm the spec 6 engine does have more mechanical advance but this would probably not have affected emissions testing much. e&oe as usual! Richard

Exactly - it boils at 180c I believe.

I've run my 912 engined elite for 4 years with Evans waterless coolant after a full engine rebuild and it runs just fine. The benefit of absence of pressure in the cooling system shouldn't be underestimated particularly where you have long and complicated pipe runs as the hose material and joints aren't pressure stressed. Interesting comments about the water pump - is it possible to fit a late pump with larger impeller to an earlier 912 engine? And does this later pump have the weep hole problem? richard

A very late reply as I only just found this thread. I believe that ignition timing is slightly retarded from the optimum as standard in order to meet emissions regs. Slightly retarded ignition will tend to reduce HC and NO emissions. This would explain why some people have experienced better performance and higher idle speed by advancing the ignition. All this is imho as I have no documentary evidence from lotus sources.