Tim Jones

Thank you Don for your kind words. You have lifted my mood after a bad day. I was preparing for a nice long run, the first since lockdown, when the water pump started leaking all over my drive. Gutted. I re-coloured the seats and fitted the carpets myself. I had the headlining done for me. There are some before and after pics of the upholstery further up this thread. I bought this car in Sept 1985

Cheers guys - guidance taken

Afternoon all - I was just about to take 'Linford', my 1979 Eclat (https://youtu.be/JfldX6Uqq7Q) out for the first run since lockdown and it's pissing coolant out of the water pump ) I don't want to take it on myself (getting too old for that stuff now). Wondered if k-seal might work as a temporary fix to allow me to get to Mike Taylor at Lotusbits - that would be a 2 1/2 hour drive from where I am. But I'm wary of putting any old stuff into my engine - any views on K-Seal? Serves a purpose or stay well away? TIA)

Would have made a good brochure shot

Good luck, Pete. If you go down the Gliptone Scuffmaster route, get in touch and I'll pass on some observations on what worked well and less well.

Hi Tony. No, i didnt remove anything (mostly on the grounds that i wouldn't have a clue where to start). The stitching was still intact but the leather had torn close to the stitching. I glued a reinforcement strip of leather behind the tear, and then unfilled the gap with Leather filler (also from Gliptone) , then used the recolouring paint over the top. ps, I also used the filler to infill the cigarette burn.

Yeah, I think the design of the interior has aged well

Cheers Pete - Thank you for your kind words. No, they haven't been re-covered. I have re-coloured them myself using Gliptone Scuffmaster, dabbed on with a sponge. They were in pretty good condition, just scruffy and tired. Will attach some 'before' pics later

I've invented a stretched limo Eclat

Taken yesterday (13/04/20)

Hi Dunc - I think it is a 12V coil but it was done by Mike at Lotusbits who was fully aware of any ballast resister issues

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. It's much appreciated and quite a few different things to consider there. I don't think it's the blocked breather pipe to the fuel tank (mostly because I can't see that this would sync with slowing from cruising speed to slow speed) but propose to run with a temporary fuel cap which will be drilled to vent it just to rule it out. With regards to the perennial issue of bad earths, I'm considering having temporary secondary earths run from all key components straight to the battery, probably terminating in a cluster of bullet connectors