soldave

I think it does. So the right end of that "bolt" is a rounded nut which screws into the driveshaft, and then turning the large nut will pull it all through? Or maybe I've got it completely wrong! Did you make the puller "bolt" yourself?

Wheel bearing itself changed but am at a bit of a tricky point. Are there any tricks to getting the driveshaft back through the rear wheel bearing? Got the bearing into the housing easily enough with some heat, a freezer, and my press. But the driveshaft is a tough one to get onto the press so I can press the housing onto it. Driveshaft basically dropped off the old bearing but this one looks like a much tighter fit. Will go to a garage on Monday if I have to but wondering if anyone has any tips for doing it?

Also, the bearing came in a sealed bag with some grease in it.. Would I want to be adding more grease before installation or not, do you think?

Ok, so a video of me shaking a rear wheel hub carrier like a Polaroid picture is probably not going to be the latest viral TikTok, but bear with me. This sound is the amount of in/out movement the inner race seems to have. Dumb question but is that anywhere near what should be happening?! Everything has come apart easily so far due to it only being apart 5-6 years ago. Driveshaft even came out quite well and didn't need a press. Outer oil seal was no problem but the one on the runner side of the hub doesn't want to come out. And then the circlip may need an act of God to release! Other than that, all good so far. May end up taking it to my trusted garage for the bearing removal and replacement.

I replaced my bonnet one with one of these; didn't even know there should be one in the boot! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283382165685 I also love the fact that Lotus realised at some point you'll probably be broken down at night and will need a light to peer into your engine bay 😁

Well spotted, that man. Very much worth considering Would you be concerned about that bit of surface rust on the cheaper one? Would see if some very light sanding could get rid of it.

Thought I'd resurrect this rather than start a new thread. Looks like I might need a new pair of rear bearings (one definitely) which is a little annoying as they are only 6 years old and very limited mileage in that time. But there we go. The challenge is getting these bearings. SJ have them priced at 119 pounds plus VAT if they even have them in. I'll try calling Lotusbits tomorrow to get a quote form them, but does anyone know where else I might be able to source them from? I've looked around on the parts interchange list for other part numbers but there are not too many around

Beautiful colour - thanks for sharing

Picked up the torque adapter today. Quite a nice little tool if you don't want to go all out and get a torque wrench that goes up to 300Nm. Took some of the torque off the hub nut and re tightened to spec. Unsurprisingly the movement was still there. It's very marginal but possibly on the driver's side too. Expect a threat very soon asking i anyone knows where I can get one without having to take out a second mortgage in order to pay SJ!

Well I've managed to find a torque adapter so I can use that to get up to 271Nm. Will try and get hold of that tomorrow. But I was thinking...even if the torque has dropped a little over time (and the nut has the split pin in, could it have dropped enough to turn to the next flat of the nut to get the split pin in again? Not so sure.. Will find out tomorrow though I hope once I can check the torque on the nut.

200Lb-Ft / 271Nm is the torque spec! Think I was at a friend's garage last time when I tightened these; my torque wrench doesn't get near that figure. It's a good call though - just to check things haven't got a tiny bit of movement over time. To feel the movement is barely noticeable with the wheel off, but the noise is there a little.

There seemed to be a few issues with the previous video embedding in the post so am add this way. Hopefully it'll work this time.

Oooohhh there's a good question. I like them - it's not often you have bucket seats in the rear of a car! For me they're snug and feel alright on the posterior too. However I've not been in the back on a journey. My wife has once and she's said it's alright but a little uncomfortable. There isn't much foam behind the seat back or base, and it helps if you're not too tall. It is one you really have to sit in to try out for yourself, but if we're ever at the same place at the same time, let me know and you can try it out!

Thanks dude. The photos came out great. And to be fair it was just the spark plug where..something had happened. It was an easy fix in the end which is the main thing. Got the back off the car jacked up and it could very well be the rear wheel bearing on the passenger side. With the sound turned up a lot in t video below you can hear the noise, but it makes it sound much worse than in reality. Looks to be a bit of notchiness at 12-6 o'clock. Nothing at 3 and 9. With the tyre on of course it is a bit more pronounced. https://youtu.be/i23VPd7FoFY

Ugh... wheel bearings. Driving on the motorway today and at about 65mph I was getting a noise coming from the passenger side (possibly rear). Not as deep a drone as I've heard before on cars but it was definitely there, going away when I dropped speed to 60. Will have to get the car on jackstands this weekend and give the passenger side wheels a good wobble to see what's going on. I replaced the rears bearings in 2015 and the fronts in 2018 so if one has failed it's a little premature. Could easily have been brought upon by my lack of skills though! Let's see what a bit of testing brings...

Thanks dude. The guy at Lotus who was looking after the car had a really good eye for photos and composition

I replaced my rear shocks with Gaz shocks & springs, and with the shocks set to their softest, I would say it's pretty close to stock. I think mine are three clicks from softest; much more and you start to kangaroo down the road.

The quality and extent of work you've done on the car, the photos you've taken, and even your write-up here are really inspiring. Massive respect for what must be a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money that's gone into this build. I hope it's as fun a drive for you as it looks.

A few pictures from my Eclat's recent trip back to Hethel, en route to the launch of the Eletre. Plus a bonus pic which I think came And then a couple of pics from a recent quick shakedown drive. I'll post both colour and filtered version, but I'm quite partial to the B&W one. I quite like the fact that inside the car the "LOTUS" on the steering wheel is in the sun with the rest in shade. I wish I could say that was by artistic design!

Five months I've not posted up on here. Apologies for it being a long time between drinks, but there are some updates to tell. The main reason I've not been active on here is that in February I became a father for the first tie (that I know of!), and as you can probably imagine life has been turned upside down a bit. Less time to spend working on or driving the car, and much of my focus elsewhere. But when I have been thinking about the car, the main thoughts have been, "How can I get this little human riding in the Eclat in relative safety?". Massive thanks for @Dunc for sharing his experiences with child seats and finding one that will fit. I'm going to be getting one in the next couple of days, but have the base for it already. My main challenge with child seats was that my Eclat didn't have rear lapbelts or indeed the slots in the material for the belt to feed through. So I set to work ordering parts! The lapbelt brackets from SJ Sportscars are... let's say don't fit the snuggest, so spacers were needed and it's now as safe as it's going to be I think :). Almost had the belts fitted and then the headlining decided to fall down on me in the car, coating me in 30-odd year old dust and broken down foam! It's fitted back up but I'll be the first to admit neatness isn't my strong suit, and I'll probably get someone professional to redo the interior at some point. But I now have two rear seatbelts and am a step closer to being able to drive my son around in the Lotus. Which for me is a very big thing. Then the observant of you may have noticed the appearance of a yellow Eclat at the launch of the Eletre (won't get into discussion of the new car, but I think it's going to be a big success and anything that pushed the brand forward gets my vote). Someone at lotus remembered my Eclat joining the launch of the Evija, and wanted it to take part in the launch of the new model. I'm not one to turn down the opportunity for the car to be involved in another part of Lotus history, so they very kindly arranged for it to be picked up and trailered down to Hethel, and then to BBC Studios for the launch, and back again. My contact at Lotus is a big fan of that generation, and took good care of the car, even taking the time to take some very nice shots of it around the HQ. When I fired the car up on its return, it sounded scarily like a tractor. Got me quite concerned about what they'd done to it whilst it was away, but after a bit of troubleshooting I found out that it was spark plug number 1 that had gone. Not fouled badly, but the car would only idle close to normal when the lead was barely touching the plug. Fully connected and there was no spark at all. Changed for a new plug and all was well again. And then last but certainly not least I've recently replaced the front brake lines with braided lines, and have finally got a garage to loosen the diff drain plug, which has been just a rounded off bolt for far too long. The oil didn't look too bad, but it's all replaced and fresh in there now. And I think that's covered it all. if you're still reading then I applaud your staying power! Hopefully more posts and pictures once the car seat is fully fitted. Until then, safe driving

Awesome response, thanks for that. Gives me lots to have a think about.

Are there any child seats that will fit in the back of an Elite or Eclat? Am very happy to be a new father and am already wondering when his first trip in the lotus can be. Issues I envisage are the width of the seats and the fact that there's only a lapbelt there so it may be a non started but wanted to check what others had done. Many thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.

I certainly wouldn't remove the thermostat. What temperature is the thermostat opening at, and is it opening fully? The stock system works so if it was me I'd be trying to find out why it's not operating as intended.

Fair enough. So the total timing at 3,500rpm of around 32 degrees could be about right? I do know the distributor in my Eclat right now isn't the original matching one - will sort that out at some point further down the road.

I'll try to be as brief as I can here as I just want to confirm my thinking. When timing the car (25 degrees @3,500-4,000rpm) that,s what you're looking for on the timing light, right? I can set it at about that but my distributor adjustment is at its limit. Just wanted to check as someone has said that I should be doing 25 degrees plus the 7 degrees of static/idle retard, so giving me 32 degrees total. Only way I can seem to get at 3,500rpm is by setting the idle timing to around 13-14 degrees which seems way too high. I think the advice is wrong but I just wanted a sense check from you knowledgeable people though as the 25 degrees was at the limit of distributor adjustment (all timing marks lining up). Many thanks in advance.