Roy Lewington

Workshop manual for my 1988 Stevens X180 turbo gives a charge for refrigerant 12 of 1.4kg (3lbs). The quick check procedure using the sight glass advised: Continuous bubbles ------- system low on charge Sight glass clear for more than 45 seconds after switching off before foaming and settling away from glass--------system overcharged Foams and settles away from sight glass in less than 45 seconds after switching off-------system correctly charged

I would use epoxy resin---much stronger. I have used West Epoxy Resin on boats with great results. Roy

Job done. I removed the auxiliary belts and lined the cam belt up. I tapped a soft nylon wedge into the crank pulley housing to prevent the cambelt moving and also zip-tied the belt to the distributor drive to avoid any ignition timing issues. With the cambelt tensioner slackened I was able to ease the belt away from the pulleys. I made a cam locking tool from a couple of soft nylon washers as the pulleys being alloy would be easy to damage. The tightening torque is only 25ftlb so I was hoping to undo the retaining bolt without too much trouble. All ok, it released and the cam sprocket came off without a problem. Using a cut down drill and a cable drive I had just enough room to drill 2 small holes in the old oil seal. I fitted self-tappers and eased the whole thing gently out. It was not damaged but had gone very hard. The new seal I fitted using a large socket and wound it in using the cam sprocket retaining bolt. The old trick of putting bearings etc in the freezer before fitting doesn't work with oil seals as the rubber goes too hard and is easily damaged. I've also had my exhaust bracket powder coated {Autoblast in Sussex 01903 877711) nice job at a good price.

My experience of almost anything from China is very poor quality and a waste of money and effort. There is a morality issue as well, I would not buy from China because of the human rights issues even if the quality was ok. I got my alloy rad through SJS, absolutely superb. Apparently the makers also supply F1 teams so what else do you need to know. A bit of a pig job so you don't want to do it twice if you can avoid it.

This is the family round-robin that you just love to get at this time of year. Well, it's been a busy year for us. In January I went to collect coal for the fire and slipped on a patch of ice. Went down with a bit of a bang and lost most of my teeth. This continues to be troublesome (see pic) so looks like turkey soup this Christmas. After 3 days my wife started to get a bit anxious and came looking. She slipped on the same patch of ice and ended up in hospital with a broken hip. The staff were good but after several visits I noticed her medical notes referred to her as Mrs A. not Mrs L. I mentioned this to a nurse but nothing changed. I mean, you don't want medical notes getting mixed up between patients do you, so I put in an official complaint. No! Not Mrs A. The wife had caught MRSA! In April we drove down to Switzerland to see some friends but they weren't in. As you know the Swiss are famous for their cheese and as we had finished our sandwiches we shared a nice cheeseburger on the way back. We called in on a French Street Market where we met a very friendly Italian called Ivor Gottcha. He was selling Chateau-Neuf-De-Crap for only £30 a bottle. It seemed amazing value, almost too good to be true. We had spare Euros and ordered 10 cases. He promised it would be with us in time for Xmas so I'm really looking forward to that. This start to the year caused a bit of friction. After 12 years of happy marriage (she said the other 37 I could have tried a bit harder) the wife left me and took the dog----I really missed that dog. She did return so we decided as a celebration to embark on a World Tour taking in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand and back up through Europe. Unfortunately the guy in the travel agent trousered the money and disappeared. Luckily we found a broker who specialised in not only refunds but also serious amounts of compensation. As he explained the reason for emptying my bank account and leaving only £1 was to ensure there wouldn't be any problem when the refund was processed. Nothing yet but I'm sure that when he gets his telephone fixed (a Nigerian number) it will turn out to be a minor computer glitch. With all this going on I had forgotten to pay the hospital parking fine of £30 which had now morphed into £1730.80 I did send a cheque but it bounced (see previous paragraph). They sent a vey nice man round to collect the debt (Mr. Bailiff). He said they wouldn't take the Lotus as it was such a mess it wouldn't even cover half that amount. Some good news, the Lotus seats are now in the lounge as the furniture has all gone. On a more serious note those of you who know me will be saddened to hear that I lost my wife at the beginning of this month. Such a sweet cheerful thing, I was traumatised. It hit me very hard, and it was a very difficult time for me, huge amounts of stress and worry and loneliness. I tried but I just couldn't cope and I took to the bottle (whisky) almost immediately. I know you will judge me as weak but you just won't understand the feeling of hopelessness and desolation unless this has happened to you Eventually I found her waiting for me at the checkout, but I still hate these huge Supermarkets. Due to the drink we had a minor car crash on the way home and the case comes up in January! Ah well, mustn't grumble-----Merry bleeding Christmas. Roy and Sylvie.

I hadn't really considered taking the towers off but it is a sensible option. However the car is running really well, no tappet noise, no oil leaks from the cam covers so it seems like a lot of extra work for a £5 seal. I'll try doing it in place and see how I get on. Thanks Roy.

One of my winter jobs is to replace the front camshaft oil seals (910 engine) which I have been assured can be done with the engine in place. I see they are only torqued to 25 ftlb but will I have a problem releasing the bolt? So I have some questions: 1 Can it be done, engine in place. 2 Can I buy a cam locking tool. 3 Would a wedge shaped piece of wood tapped in between the two cams sprockets work. 4 Should I make a bar to bolt between the two sprockets. Any advice gratefully received. Thanks Roy.

Lotus Mediterranean Blue, glad you like it. Nice interior in red/dark blue leather. Still looking good after 94000 miles.

Car show this Sunday, actually it is more a village fete with plenty of stalls, brass band etc. At Horam near Heathfield West Sussex starts at 12...30 so get there for 11.30/12.00. No need to book, just turn up, usually about 50 cars all different makes, a nice day out. Just had a weeks holiday, did about 600miles in the daily driver. A 180K Merc. which was fine, everything you need, auto (good for creeping round the M25, A/C, Cruise, very quiet ride, good brakes, yes it was just fine. Went to top up the Lotus with fuel for Sunday and go for a run. Jeez, this thing just brings a big smile on my face whenever I drive it. It is running superbly (always has actually). Awesome! Long may it continue!

Some time ago (I think it was early last year) there were some interesting posts on whether or not to fit an oil cooler thermostat. I decided against, as I was not happy with the thought of it failing in the closed position. Instead I have fitted an oil temperature gauge. Lack of a suitable dash location and the preference for keeping it original pushed me into a small digital gauge which was fairly easy to fit and to remove at a later stage if needed. I bought a sump plug from Matt Lewis Racing (half inch BSP) that took a one eighth npt temp. sender. Online supplied me with a digital temp. gauge. Fitting was OK. I made up a small bracket which slid under the dash. Wiring needed an earth and 12v which I took from the instrument fuse 21. Being digital I did not have to wire in a lighting feed. The twin core signal cable which plugged in at the gauge and sump plug needed extending and I ran it through under the transmission tunnel following the route of the accelerator cable. I gave it a run today for the first time. From cold 8*C and an outside air temp of 10*C it took a long time to warm the oil (only 40* after 5 miles). Even with some fairly spirited driving it only made 55*C. I would like it to be around 80, the same as the water temp. so rather bizarrely I shall now be fitting an oil temp. thermostat as I will be able to monitor the results.

Oil temperature gauge? Small digital gauges are available on line. Roy

How good is your timing gun? I have 3------ and 2 of them are close to useless. Just one more thing for you to consider.

Remember that ignition timing at idle (10 degrees I think) is with both vacuum pipes at the distributor disconnected. You may be including some vacuum advance in your 20 degrees.

Nice tip Neil, thanks for that. Roy

I have wrap but on the chassis where it runs close to the exhaust (looks rather nice in red)!