dixi4uk

Hi Dave, So glad you took my suggestion of the Escort short shift that the rally boys use. They do get a little getting used to but the result is worth it. I am surprised no one has thought of it before. Every Elite /Eclat should be fitted with one. They are not expensive. Adrian.

As I under stand there are holes for washer jets on the Elite I have a number of both.The best I will be using with the extra holes that would leave me a two Eclat without hole as the jets are bonnet mounted. What are they worth in goodish condition? with shipping at about a £5, Make me an offer then I see what I have. But to be fair there is no point in looking if the offer is too. low. Original are mesh only and rust like hell.If I can not help Regards, Adrian

I agree Microfibre cloths can be a little vicious. I bought a full set of clocks in the end which will give me a certain amount of choice when putting the dash back together

I have seen Alans compressor in the flesh and it is a substantial piece of kit. A cleaver design that will do the job perfectly.

No worries. Your Ford based gearbox should have a simple reversing light solution.I am surprised you are having difficulty in sorting one.

Hopeful success. There is a little tweeking on the threads to engage the light, best to engage reverse and wind in until the light comes on. Going back to the quick shift idea. I have driven Escorts with this fitted and the difference is remarkable. The dash is out of my car so have been unable to check final clearances on the lever but at worst I forsee maybe a small amount of bending to the stick which comes supplied straight. The supplier I used, although knows nothing of Lotus fitment, says many Escort drivers do put in a slight bend to have the stick exactly where they want it. So guess this is no big deal. Adrian

Ok Dave, I can now confirm that the Maxi /Marina reversing lamp switch fits the thread and has sufficient thread length to include the adjusting nut. It is reasonably tight owing to brass going into aluminium however it does have to hold the gear oil in the 'box along with a copper washer. This is where I would look and see what two wiring connections you have. (40 years of owners may have changed this). The original is based on bullet connectors. The original part number is GAE 191 CD3 and the part was supplied by eBay seller ryansmith17ryan. This very same switch is available with different wiring connections depending on the application from Triumph though most BL to Leyland Sherpa. Alecs' Ford application is entirely different and has no similarity whatsoever.

It is Saturday so I will have an answer by this afternoon for you. Regards, Adrian

Well Dave, Not 100% as of today. A few weeks ago I ordered a Maxi, Marina, Allegro switch from eBay at £6.90 (Genuine Lucas). Looks like it will fit, correct length thread, right connection wires but as the gearbox and I are far apart I never got around to checking the thread fit. I did try a Land Rover switch but the threads were far too course So if anyone wants a 5 speed Land Rover switch I have one cheap unused. I must check it out and let you know. Bear with me.

Burning out the bushes works in minutes. I have chuckled in the past where people have used presses and all manner of gadgets to remove the bushes!

Hi Mark, Unfortunately, my method of removal of the Metalistic bush from the lower arm destroys the bush completely. I do not have access to a press. Again, thinking out of the box I remembered an old guys' solution that was given to me when I was an apprentice about 50 years ago. I lit a small bonfire of some scrap wood on the end of my barbeque, 5 mins later bushes were gone!. Allow the arms to cool, a quick clean up and a coat of paint, job done. The galvanising was not even damaged. It is worth reminding everyone that using a poly bushes in this area works on a slightly different principle to Metalistic bushes, hence the large side washers. Any further detail on this please pm me. In an earlier post I did list some dimensions (unconfirmed) that I gleaned from the internet. These may help if you are going down the Metalistic route. Regards,

I have stated before that I am not a fan of slammed cars, I just don't see the point. Surely at different ride heights the steering geometry would be compromised leading to excess tyre wear and handling problems. Every picture I see of your car Luke is shown in the slammed position. Please enlighten me on a couple of points. Is it still possible to run the car at standard height or higher? and being air ride is the ride quality better or worse at standard height if this is possible? I know little or nothing of air ride suspension systems only what I have seen on some US TV shows. I would expect that the best ones are expensive. What sort of cost are we talking about for an Elite? I really have no intention of converting to air ride but I would like the background knowledge.

Cool, Coolhand. MOT passed great. Love the 'It's too low for the rollers' brake test. On a serious note the road brake test using a decelleratormeter has to be the most inefficient ever invented. It can mask many brake faults. Years ago I tested the local Lords vintage Rolls Royce that passed the road brake test only to find later that the front wheel cylinders were seized solid.

Gladly. the company is Floflex, Pinfold Industrial estate, Rhyl, Denbighshire. A Google search should fill in the details. I would like to point out that I believe the prices are purely for personal customers,( nudge ,nudge, wink, wink, you know what I mean). Their listings for Lotus bushes are minimal to zero, although giving exact sizes of a bush required may do the trick. A 'phone enquiry may not produce much of a result. For instance earlier in the year I wanted front antiroll bar bushes. Naturally as expected they said not available. It was found on a visit to their premises that Escort bushes used a 20mm or 22mm hole for the bar whereas the Lotus required 3/4". They found me some demic ones with an 18mm hole which just required a 3/4" drill through with a Blacksmiths drill. Perfect at two for a fiver. For the current project I did supply the original hardware, lower arms, top arms etc as patterns for a couple of days. I doubt he would or could have tackled things without them. Adrian

The final result of the replacement of the front inner pivot bushes is nearing conclusion. I am extremely pleased with the outcome as it has proved thinking out the box and a some research will produce results. The local company to me, who manufacturer polybushes, has proved invaluable in taking a multiple of various bushes and customised them to fit the Elite leaving me with only a small amount of fettling to fit. Sadly, as the guy rummaged in hundreds of storage boxes selecting this part here and this part there I was totally unable to keep track for what car they were originally intended. What they have supplied is: 2 split inner pivot bushes, sleeves and large side support washers. 2 ARB to lower arm bush kits. 4 top radius arm bush kits (much fettling required I was not intending changing these but thought why do half a job). All these bushes sleeves and washers only cost £30.40!. Which is much better that two bushes for £50 from a certain Lotus specialist supplier. Added to my now rather large job, I replaced the trunnion bolt and washer kit sourced from a firm called ANG found on eBay for £11.15 to finish off a complete rebuild. With an extra couple of pounds for new Simmons nuts my total spend was £43.55 and the achievement of a full rebuild not just the pivot bushes priceless. I think it was Dunc who mentioned a probable fit problem regarding ARB to lower arm bushes replacing the standard soft bushes with poly bush type. No such problem was encountered they fitted very easily and neatly. The worst part of the whole repair was the top inner radius arm bushes. Although Triumph based arms and outer bushes are used the inner bushes and mounting are pure Lotus. Primarily I had great difficulty in removing the arms and removing the original Metalistic bushes, not unexpected.. The four replacement inner bushes had to be cut down reducing the thickness to ensure correct alignment of the arms to the top ball joint. Easy peasy once I had it figured out. That's it. On to the next job on the never ending list. Adrian